War of the Hearts
by Dragonchild
Summary: On Hiatus. It had been decided, the young cadets heart would be the prize. The summary of the battle between two young men and the war they waged, in the middle of the largest military coup the Planet had ever faced. Yaoi ZxC, RxC. slight AU.
1. Teaser

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: strong language, violence, character death, and more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of it's characters. All of that belongs to it's owners Square-Enix.

Author Notes: Welcome to the beginning of War of the Hearts, for now this is just a teaser so keep an eye out for more really soon.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

One thing anyone learns very quickly in the military is that rank is probably the most important thing to memorize. That way you know how to pick your fights wisely. For instance, if oh say you are a private, a private first class picks a fight with you, and you defend yourself. You are the one responsible for the fight, after all you are the lower rank. Cloud knew this but he fell for the bait every time. He was also no stranger to Captain William's office. The captain blamed it on Cloud's stubborn attitude. Cloud disagreed; he knew his stubborn frame of mind was probably the only thing that had kept him with the Shinra power company.

Never the less, that did not change the fact that he had been caught fighting in the hallways with another trainee. This was far from a rare occurrence; after all, he was one of the favorite targets of the older recruits in the SOLDIER program. He would not back down from a challenge and he had many bruises to prove it both from basic training and from the hallway fights.

He was seated on a standard Shinra issued chair, the kind that could be found in many of the offices around the Shinra building. Sitting in front of Captain William's desk, watching him flip through Cloud's file: a file that held all of his past achievements (few), fights (many), and punishments (repetitive). Finally, with an exhausted sigh the captain turned his attention to Cloud.

"Private Strife, do you realize this is your third time in here this week?"

Cloud tired his best to look the Captain in the eye. "Yes sir."

"And you realize that we really can't stand for this kind of attitude."

"Yes sir." Cloud was still firmly looking into the other's eyes. "But sir, I was merely-" The Captain cut him off by raising his hand, fingertips to the ceiling, palm out. Cloud's eyes slipped down to his own hands clasped in his lap. Every time he would try to explain the situation, but every time he was stopped. It did not matter; he was on the bottom of the totem pole of military hierarchy.

"Now, I've already spoken to my superior about this situation. He's already gone and made you an appointment." The Captain explained as he put away Cloud's file.

"An appointment?" He did not like the sound of this.

"Yes, with the General; he will be sure to give you a punishment that will keep you out of trouble."

He felt his heart drop into his stomach. "General Sephiroth, sir?"

"Yes." The Captain gave Cloud a stern look. "You will be at his office at oh-nine hundred tomorrow morning, and you will not be late. Got that, Strife?"

"Yes sir." Cloud left the office with a weight in his stomach. He had seen the General a few times from a distance and that was unnerving enough, and tomorrow he would have to face him dead on. Tonight would not be a restful night.

True enough he was flighty and distracted through all of his afternoon classes, which continued into the evening. As he sat not really reading his Materia handbook, ignoring his roommate and being ignored in return his mind wandered over the meeting with the Capitan earlier today. Why would they be so extreme as to send Cloud to see the General himself? He was a legend all over the planet, someone so important surely he had more important things to be doing rather then spend time with some sort of tomfoolery case like Cloud. If Cloud had been in higher management, he would have just told the Capitan to make him scrape gum off the bottom of the cafeteria tables. By far one of the worst jobs Cloud had ever been given as a punishment. He absently chewed on the end of his pencil eyes still pretending to read the words in front of him as he wondered if General Sephiroth would be angry about the intrusion into his time. Surely he was to busy of a man to be dealing with someone like Cloud. He was not sure just how long he had been mulling over his thoughts about the General when he pulled back into reality by the sudden dimming of the lights. It was the magical hour at night known as 'lights out'. Luckily for the recruits it was taken into account that they might want to stay up later to study their work so light instead of being cut out completely was instead brought to a lower level. Usually though this was when Cloud would give into his exhaustion and he would just turn off his light and drift off to sleep. As such, his light was flicked off with a twist of his wrist and he rolled over turning his back to his roommates light, but sleep did not come so easily this night. He was awake when the other light in the room was extinguished, once engulfed in the dark completely he lost track of time and as a result had no clue when it was that he finally fell asleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Cloud found himself sitting outside of the General's office, still groggy from the night before. Meeting General Sephiroth had been a dream of his, a dream of many in fact. However, he had always hoped that it would be in a better situation. Still there was nothing he could do about it now, not showing up would be worse. He had shown up early by a few minutes, and now it was nearly a quarter past and he was still waiting. He knew that the General was a busy man; he knew to remain patient and to wait. He was also happier sitting on the cold plastic Shinra issued chairs (again) in the hallway then in the office facing the famous Sephiroth.

He was inspecting a ding in the polished metal wall across from him trying not to wonder how it got there, and failing. He was on his third scenario when he heard the door to his right open up. Out came a violet uniformed SOLDIER, he saluted the General who stood in the doorway. Cloud froze, even standing there casually he was intimidating. After sending of the SOLDIER, he turned his attention to Cloud. He could feel his stomach knot up as soon as Sephiroths' eyes focused on him.

The great General Sephiroth lifted up a clipboard and glanced at it quickly. "You must be Private Strife, correct?"

Immediately Cloud was on his feet greeting the General with the standard chest salute. Cloud found that he was not able to keep Sephiroths gaze and instead stared directly at his chin. He could feel the others eyes pass over him, inspecting him. Finally, at length he spoke and Cloud was allowed to relax out of his salute. "It says here you've been in several fights with other recruits."

"Yes sir." Cloud answered.

The General shook his head in disgust. Cloud feared the worst. "Come inside." Cloud did not say anything, instead silently he followed the General and sat in the chair across from the only desk in the room. The General shook his head again as he sat down as well. "I don't see why officers can't deal with these situations on their own." He paused and looked at Cloud, obviously seeing the boys' distress. "Not to worry, I will speak with Captain Williams on this matter. I have enough things to deal with let alone punish trouble makers."

Cloud nodded his head in agreement, still not able to find his voice. He watched the General move about his desk, watched as he flipped through meticulously organized papers, watched as he pulled one out and scribbled a few notes in the margin.

"Since it is up to me now to allocate you a punishment, I'll be giving you this assignment." He grabbed another sheet from the top of a different stack on one corner of his desk and handed it to Cloud. Cloud looked it over quickly. "Usually we would hire out one of the recruits for something like this, but you will do it without any reward."

Cloud looked the paper over. "The Turks sir?"

The General nodded. "You will be assisting a SOLDIER who himself is assisting a select group of Turks. While it is a job under President Shinra himself, do not expect to meet him or to be doing anything exciting. Remember this is a punishment. I can assure you, working with the Turks is hardly anything to celebrate."

Cloud nodded his understanding, he did not really care what Sephiroth said working with the Turks sounded a lot better then scrubbing toilets. "If the Turks are that bad, is he being punished as well sir?" He took a chance asking a question like this it was out of line.

"Who is that you're referring to?"

"The, uh SOLDIER sir."

"No." The General seemed amused. "Duties such as these are the responsibilities of first class SOLDIERS."

Cloud had thought that the General was pulling his leg at first, but then with one glance he realized the General would never joke. "I'll be working under a first class SOLDIER sir?"

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you don't keep him waiting tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir."

Soon enough Cloud was back out in the hallway and for the first time actually looking forward to his punishment the next day.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: Thanks everyone for reading, now don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 1

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: Strong language, violence, character death, and more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of it's characters. All of that belongs to it's owners Square-Enix.

Chapter One

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next morning found Cloud up early actually excited to get to his punishment. As he packed his Shinra uniform into his Shinra issued pack, he couldn't help but think about how much control Shinra had over his life. Shinra told them what to wear, what to say, how to act. But if he were to speak against it, rebel against the conformity he would have no choice but to go back to Nibelhiem a failure and labelled as a supporter of the Wutanese.

The Wutanese was a group of people stationed in Wutei that currently had control over the planet; they claimed to be a government. Up until the Shinra Power Company started to build their own military force the Wutanese government were the only super power available. Though they didn't act like any government that Cloud ever had any experience with they called themselves that, whether or not they went by that name because it was an intimidation tactic or not, Cloud didn't know. The only thing that was certain about the Wutei army was that they were a force that, until the great General Sephiroth came around, was unsurpassed. People chose sides now the Government or Shinra. The two forces were on the brink of war, and Cloud wanted to be sure he fought for the right side.

He stopped to look at the last two things to go into his bag. The only items that hadn't been given to him by Shinra, he knew he couldn't fail. Two picture frames that he took everywhere with him to remind him why he was here. The first a photo of his mother smiling as she baked cookies in the kitchen. She always worked hard to make life better for Cloud, even if it was just sweet treats sometimes. The second picture was of Tifa, smiling as well, as she stood in front of the water tower before her mother had died. He kept this picture to remind him of the promise had had made her a top that very tower, just months back.

Firming his resolve to do well over the next couple of days, to try to impress the first class SOLDIER and the Turks. Before lights out, the night before Cloud had gone over the assignment page that the General had given him. It didn't tell him much, just that himself, one SOLDIER, and two Turks were going to Bone Village. Apparently something unusual had been dug up. Cloud had no clue what it was, since he didn't have authorization to such information. He knew it must be something important if they were bringing in a SOLDIER. With any luck, he'd find out what it was. The buzzing of his roommates alarm broke him out of his thoughts. He finally shoved his picture frames into his bag and left the room, in search of an early breakfast.

He made sure that he was at Captain Williams's office early, since that was where he was told to report to. Turned out he wasn't the first one there. Sitting at the Captains desk was a dark haired man wearing the SOLDIER violet. Was this the SOLDIER he was going to be working under? He waited in the doorway for the Captain to wave him in.

The SOLDIER stood as Cloud entered the room, Captain Williams introduced them. The SOLDIER took Clouds hand enthusiastically. "Drop the Major Fair part just call me Zack. Nice to meet you Cloud."

Cloud was honestly taken aback, never before had a commissioned officer ever called him by his first name. It had always been Private Strife. "Nice to meet you too uh... Zack." It was also strange to be calling a commissioned officer by his first name.

Zack just grinned. "Seph told me about your punishment so don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Seph?" Cloud questioned as he followed Zack out of the office and into one of the elevators without as much as a farewell to the Captain.

"Yeah, General Sephiroth."

"You call him Seph?!" Was this guy that close to the General?

"Yeah he hates it." He paused to laugh to himself. "I'm surprised he even allowed me to be bumped up to first class. Even if he is giving me lousy missions. This is my first mission as a first class. "

"This is your first mission?"

Zack scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, at least after this one it'll no longer be my first. Heh you could say I'm a first class mission virgin."

"I guess." Cloud responded, thinking to himself that it didn't make much sense.

Eventually the elevator made its way to the main level, where the lobby was located. In the time Cloud had been at the Shinra building, he had only been here in the lobby a few times. Since he rarely went out into the city, and if he did he usually went out a side exit.So naturally the size of the room awed him. Standing near the main doorway were two men in Navy blue suits.

Zack casually walked up to them and introduced Cloud. The first, a tall man without a hair on his head, shook Clouds hand and introduced himself as Rude. The second, a slightly shorter slimmer person with fiery red hair said his name was Reno. Introductions done they all headed out of the building and piled into a military truck. The three were discussing something very quickly; Cloud couldn't keep up with them. So instead of listening in on a conversation he probably shouldn't be listening to anyway, he chose to stare at the passing scenery and ignore the motion sickness rising in his belly. He wondered where they were heading as they passed more and more buildings. It wasn't long before this question was answered. Near the edge of the plate they were riding on was a helipad, with a large black Shinra helicopter.

"Isn't there a helipad on top of the Shinra building?" Cloud wondered out loud.

"Yep." Reno, the redhead piped up. "Only we're not allowed to use it since 'there is things of more importance then this' bullshit." He mimicked, Cloud guessed it was the president he was imitating.

"We're lucky we get to fly there, we almost had to take a boat." Rude added.

"Oh." Cloud made himself a mental reminder not to ask stupid questions; after all, he was trying to make some impressions here. He followed his companions off the truck and onto the waiting helicopter listening to the one called Reno complain about the truck ride. This would be the first time Cloud had ever rode on a helicopter. He had expected to find a pilot ready and waiting, but was surprised to find it empty and quiet. The charm of having a helicopter ready to go was a bit exaggerated in the movies. Usually they were already running and you'd have to duck your head under the blades. This one sat silent.

He was ready to ask why it wasn't running but silenced himself; reminding himself he was trying not to appear like a complete idiot. Though his question was answered when Reno sat up in the pilot seat, instead of sitting in the back with everyone else. Cloud sat opposite of the SOLDIER and the remaining Turk, he felt waves of excitement start to grow as the engine started up and he could see the blades begin to turn outside the windows.

Once they were up in the air and Clouds excitement gradually wore off, he fell into a conversation with the SOLDIER. Rude the Turk remained quiet. "So what exactly did you do to get them to send you to Seph?" Zack asked.

"I was caught fighting in the hallways." Cloud explained.

"What?! You're kidding that kind of shit happens all the time, why the hell would they send you here?"

Cloud shrugged. "I guess they were just tired of dealing with me. I get picked on a lot"

"Kids can be cruel, but I guess sometimes it just has to be expected."

"What do you mean by that, it has to be expected?"

"Well just think about the environment you're all in. It's one big competition, after all only so many are accepted into SOLDIER. It's a limited number and there are a lot of people who want to fill it. So if they pick off a few of the little ones early who's it gonna hurt? Besides the ones they're picking on?" Zack rationalized.

"Obviously you were never bullied." Cloud remarked feeling a little bitter.

"Well not a lot. Not never but it wasn't constant or anything." Zack gave Cloud a smile. "So exactly how many fights are we talking about here?"

"Well it was just three this week. I can't really count them all I've lost track."

Zack burst out laughing. "That many and you're still here?!" He laughed some more, while Cloud only scowled. "You're going to go places kid. I wouldn't worry about it."

"You think so?"

Zack was about to respond but was cut off by a violent shake. The whole helicopter was jerking around, Rude jumped to his feet and moved to the cockpit. Cloud and Zack remained in the back, Zack looking stern but calm Cloud on the other hand was panicking. He dug his nails into the seat and had his eyes closed, trying his best to block out the outside world.

Luckily, it didn't last long, soon the aircraft stilled and Rude returned to his seat. He provided an explanation to which Cloud was grateful. "We, uh, just hit a crosswind, but we should be there soon."

"Thank goodness for a second there I thought we were about to die." Cloud spoke up.

"It's a common occurrence."

Zack leaned back. "I wasn't worried... Well not a lot. I'm not to sure on reds competence up there."

The helicopter suddenly swerved to one side and Reno's angry voice could be heard. "Don't make me come back there, because I will."

Zack laughed the threat off, while Cloud clung to his seat again. He was beginning to wish that he was back at the Shinra building being bullied rather then sitting here in this death trap. The rest of the trip was silent, Cloud was still skittish, Rude was his usual stoic self, and Zack was not permitted to speak as he was most likely to harass Reno again. Cloud didn't mind the silence though; it gave him time to think. So far, this supposed punishment was fairly easy, if you didn't count the near death experience. What would it be like once they actually get to Bone Village?

Before he knew it, they were being lowered down back to the ground Cloud couldn't wait. He never thought he would miss solid ground so much. He was the first one off, and was faced with the small group waiting for them, once everyone was gathered one man stepped forward out of the group.

He shook hands with Zack and introduced himself. "Greetings the names Cook. I'm in charge here, trust me when I say we're all glad to see you."

Cloud who stood in behind Zack and the Turks looked at this 'Cook' with interest. He was tall and heavyset, with dark skin unlike anything he'd seen in Midgar or back home in Niblehiem. He took note of how Cooks brilliant white smile stood out against his dark complexion. As the rest of his entourage went down to business, Cloud took in his surroundings. There were several tents set up almost haphazardly around and only a few wooden structures erected on the ground. Though the main structure was made out of bones, a giant ribcage by the looks of it. No wonder they called this place Bone Village.

Before he could wander anywhere Zack gave him his first job. He was to secure their sleeping arrangements. Even though everyone was sore that it wouldn't take them long, Cloud was a little after that trip here. Zack wanted to be prepared, so Cloud was introduced to a man named Marsh. Marsh took Cloud to one of the tents, which looked to be made of a heavy canvas. The inside was bare with the exception of a few rolled up mats to one side. Cloud took the initiative to unroll the mats and set up, just in case they wound up staying the night

He found though once he was done that he wasn't quite sure what to do. He sat and relaxed for a while but after only a short time, it was apparent that the others wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Deciding that it would be best if their bags were in the tent as well. He left to retrieve them from the helicopter, on his way he ran into the ever-helpful Marsh.

"Heya Cloud." Cloud could tell that Marsh was of the friendly sort. He was short just and inch or two taller then fifteen year old Cloud. He had a dark complexion as well as most people did up here he noticed, though the darkest by far was Cook.

"Hi." Cloud managed.

"So what 'cha doin' now?"

"I was just going to take our things back to the tent."

"Well I'm done me duties fer the day I'll help ya out." He offered.

Cloud accepted his help gratefully, and the two of them managed to bring all of the bags to the tent in just one trip. Cloud and Marsh sat in the tent and Marsh explained things about Bone Village to Cloud. What they did there, where everyone was from, things of the sort.

"Yep, most of us 'ere are hired out from Corel." He explained. "We're supposed ta report any findings to the Wutei government but the higher uppers decided to bring this last thing to Shinra. Not sure wha' it is or nuthin."

"So you don't know then?" Cloud asked out of curiosity.

"Nah, I don't know nuthin about nuthin. It's a big step though, keepin' something behind Wutei's back like that." Marsh looked to his feet. "Gutsy move, lucky no ones reported them yet."

Cloud nodded his agreement but before he could respond, Marsh lit up with another topic. "You seen the forest yet?"

"No, not up close at least."

"Tha's good, no one likes the forest. Best ta avoid it."

This peaked Clouds curiosity. "Why would I avoid it?"

"'Cause it's cursed. Ya go in the forest and you ain't gonna come back out."

"You mean they get lost?" Cloud tried to rationalize.

"Nah, dude. The forest likes eat's 'em or sumthin'."

They sat in silence for a while as Cloud digested this information. Could it actually be possible for a forest to eat someone? But if no one ever went into the forest, how anyone would know that someone just didn't get lost?

"That's were we found it." Marsh continued.

"Found what?" Cloud inquired.

Marsh shrugged. "We don't know what it is. Tha's why you're all 'ere. We found it on the edge of the forest. Dug it outta the ground. It looks like a rock."

"A rock?" No one would have brought the Turks all the way up here for a rock.

"Yeah, that's wha' it looks like, but it ain't what it acts like." Marsh stretched his legs before standing up again. "Real purdy colour though."

Cloud sat stunned for a while. They were up here for a rock; they had to come to look at a rock dug out of the ground where rocks come from. A rock that didn't act like a rock. A rock that they had been investigating for about three hours now, looks like they would end up staying the night.

"Hey Cloud? Did ya hear me Cloud?" Marsh said interrupting Clouds thoughts.

"Huh? What? Oh sorry."

"S'okay. I was just saying that I gotta go. Things ta take cara, see ya around though."

"Yeah it was nice talking to you." Cloud waved his new friend off and began to wonder what he was supposed to do now.

Hours passed and Cloud wound up helping the Bone Village workers prepare for dinner, with still no word from Zack or the Turks. Dinner was taken off to the guests and Cloud sat in the mess hall with the village workers. He had looked at the skeletal building from the outside with curiosity and was surprised to find out that inside were rows upon rows of tables. Quite spacious seeing as how the floor stepped down and there was a loft toward the back. The tables never filled up, even at the most crowded point of mealtime there was lots of room. They could have done with removing a few of the tables but everyone seemed to enjoy the space. Cloud certainly did, compared to the cramped eating quarters in the Shinra building this seemed like he could have had a table to himself. The elbowroom was nice.

Cloud was just starting in on his dessert when Cook approached him. "Greetings kid."

Swallowing his mouthful of chocolate pudding he gave Cook a smile. "Hi, is the meeting finished?"

"Pretty much. Everyone's pretty tired. I'd suggest heading back to your tent when you're done." Cook continued on his way, stopping once to speak to Cloud once more. "I'm sure the Turks have got something planned for you."

"Oh, thank you." Cloud said more out of a formality then actual thanks. He was starting to enjoy his time in the village, now he was probably going to get started on that punishment thing. He submitted himself to his fate and headed out to the tent, after thoroughly enjoying his pudding of course.

True enough the Turks, Rude and Reno sat waiting for him on the mats he had previously laid out. Zack was stretched out near the back, seemingly asleep. "Hey look who it is." Reno suddenly burst out once he spotted Cloud.

Was that cards in his hands? "We've an assignment for you." Rude continued.

Yep definately cards they were playing cards. "It's a doozy too."

"An assignment?" Cloud was more eager to hear about the assignment rather then how hard it was.

"Yep, you're going to help clean the latrines." Reno laughed. Clouds face fell at the idea. How exciting going from scrubbing toilets at the Shinra building to scrubbing toilets at Bone Village. "Oh by the way." Reno continued. "Good job with setting everything up, I'm impressed."

Cloud beamed; at least he had made a good impression. "I guess I should get to work then."

"See you later." Reno called out as Cloud left the tent again.

Indeed Cloud had to clean some toilets as well as some sinks, the floor and the tile backsplash. He wasn't alone though; there were regular workers who were paid to clean. In fact according to one person he was talking with they all rotated jobs, one week they'd be cooking in the kitchens, another week they'd be cleaning the mess hall, etcetera. The only thing that everyone did all the time, every week, every day was dig. Seeing as that was the main purpose for any of them being there. Cloud thought it was a good system; everyone seemed to be happy here he didn't sense any animosity between any of the workers. In fact, the only thing that seemed to upset anyone in the village was the object that had been dug out of the ground. Whatever it was Cloud wanted to know what it was and he wanted to know posthaste. He knew from asking around about it, that no one knew what it was or what it did. The only way he'd find out anything was through Zack and the Turks.

He swore that he'd do whatever it took to find out, even if it meant befriending the crazy redhead who had tried to kill them all. Waving good-bye to his fellow toilet scrubbers Cloud made his way back to the tent, noticing how dark it was all of a sudden. The village was fairly empty only a few bodies moving here and there and one lone person up on a cliff digging away. He enjoyed the sound of his footsteps crunching in the gravel and the low murmur of people in the tents. It was hard to believe that the ground he was walking on contained such a secret...

The next morning didn't lead to their departure in fact it didn't lead to much. Cloud followed his group down to the mess hall for breakfast engaged in conversation with Zack. As much as Zack claimed to enjoy the blondes presence he still wouldn't spill on the object, Cloud had learned this quickly and were now discussing the merits of Renos mullet.

"I must admit that stunning colour does make one stand out in a crowd but it's the haircut that makes everyone stare." Zack quipped.

Cloud laughed. "If he were to take it out of the ponytail he'd fit in at a hockey game. Hockey Hair!"

"Ha ha you two. You're just jealous you don't have such fantastic hair." Reno fought back. "The two of you look like you got in a fight with a chocobo and lost. Particularly you chocohead." He said motioning to Cloud.

"Hey!" He retaliated.

Unexpectedly Rude let out a chuckle from the front of the group. "Chocogel."

"Whataya know he does speak." Zack laughed, which was rewarded with a scowl.

Cloud laughed along with Zack and Reno, while Rude only made a sound of acknowledgement as they took a seat in the bone mess hall. He enjoyed his breakfast and the easy conversation with his companions knowing what was to come later that afternoon. He had been informed that he was to spend his morning after breakfast running errands for the SOLDIER and the Turks and the afternoon he was on digging duty, helping Marsh and his crew up near the forest. He dreaded going near the forest after everything Marsh had told him the day before. He had spent some time looking at the trees from the entrance of the sleeping tent, they seemed harmless enough but no one knew what was beyond those trees. What was there that kept people from re-emerging? He didn't want to go anywhere near it.

It was to Clouds disappointment that the afternoon came quickly breakfast had disappeared in a flash and the errands, silly things like running for coffee or taking charts back and forth between the Turks and the village elders. The elders really weren't really old, not what Cloud expected elders to look like in fact that was more of a title then anything else, seeing as the men who made up the council of the elders were still quite young. They were the small group that lead the workers. They were a curious group that wanted to know everything the visitors were doing so it was up to Cloud to check in regularly, the job assigned to him by and impatient Reno. Reno disagreed with the elders keeping track of them constantly, fairly put off when they insisted to know his actions at the bar the night before. Cloud had to climb up to the loft in the mess hall where the small bar was locate three times after he had returned from cleaning the latrines. So morning errands completed Cloud found himself dreading the walk up toward the cliff and closer to the trees.

He was following Marsh and once the Corel native noticed Cloud starting to lag further and further behind he stopped to wait for the blonde to catch up. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Sorry." Cloud said still not speeding up his pace. "I'm just nervous."

"Ah, don' worry 'bout the diggers. They ain't gonna hurt ya." He laughed.

"No it's not that, the forest kinda freaks me out."

"'Cause of what I told ya before?" Suddenly he burst out into loud laughter; he seemed to laugh a lot. "Don' worry 'bout tha' jus' don' go in the woods an' you'll be fine. Bein' close to the trees ain't gonna hurt ya none."

Cloud gave him a weak smile, still feeling the nerves twist up his stomach. "Thanks."

Soon enough he was introduced to several dirt covered workers and handed a shovel. He was given an area to work and told to dig. He watched observing the others around him; some had large garden shovels like himself while most had smaller tools spades and brushes. While he was just meant to dig out a larger area to a certain width, the workers with the smaller tools did the precision work. They were the ones that actually pulled the treasures out of the ground. What Cloud thought was strange was that they were digging out items, ethers, potions, hypers, things of that sort. As he dug keeping one eye on the trees, he wondered if someone came at night and planted the items for the workers to dig up.

Just as he was taking a break, taking large gulps of water from a bottle handed to him from another worker he was approached by Cook, who slapped him firmly on the back making him cough up some of his water.

"Heya kid how goes the digging business?" He burst out in his usual booming voice.

"Fine as long as I actually get some of this water to my stomach."

Naturally, his laugh would be just as booming as his voice. "Great to see some humour in ya."

"Yeah... if you want to call it that." He turned his attention back to his water finishing off the bottle.

"So what you think of the fellas?" He questioned as he sat next to Cloud on the disturbed ground.

"They're nice enough, showing me the ropes I guess."

Another booming laugh a single loud syllable of amusement. "Not like it's too hard."

"How long have all of you been doing this?" Cloud had wondered, the view from the cliff showed evidence that the entire area had once been excavated like this at least once before.

"Oh hell if I know, they're always bringing different people around and sending people home, before all of us from Corel came here there were folks from Gongaga digging away. As far as I know they've been digging here for as long as the Wutanese government has been around." He explained. "Your friend said he was from there, Gongaga."

"Hmm." Cloud responded, mind concentrating on what Cook had told him. "What are they looking for?"

"The Wutanese? Oh they're looking for the key to the forest."

"The key?"

Cook gave a smile to Clouds ignorance. "Sure, the story goes that the only way to successfully pass through the forest is to put it to sleep with the Lunar Harp. I guess the goons running the Wutai government want whatever is in the forest."

"The Lunar Harp? If they've been digging this long and haven't found it... why haven't they given up it's just a story after all there's no proof that it even exists."

Cook shrugged. "I guess they really want to get to whatever is behind those trees. Well I'll let you get back to work kid, see ya at dinner."

Cloud watched the large black man walk away and wondered about what he had told him. They were looking for something called the Lunar Harp but had found something else instead and they turned it over to Shinra rather then the Wutanese government like they should have. Whatever was going on it wasn't making any sense to him.

The afternoon passed quickly and Cloud was more then happy to step into the showers to wash the dirt and sweat away. He stood in the water for a while just enjoying the feeling of the water hitting his sore shoulders and soothe his aches and pains away. He understood how this was a punishment now. He was surprised as he stepped out of the shower when he saw Zack standing there waiting for him.

"Zack!" He exclaimed clutching his towel closer to himself.

"Hey hurry up and get dressed. I want to take you somewhere." With that he was gone leaving Cloud to wonder just what he was planning.

Curiosity getting the best of him he quickly got changed back into the regular grey cadet uniform luckily dirt and sweat free. Zack was waiting for him outside of the shower tent, usual smile in place. For a SOLDIER he seemed to smile a lot.

"So what is this about anyway?" Cloud said as he followed Zack up toward the dig site.

"You'll see just be patient."

Cloud decided not to question Zack any further and silently followed him up the metal ladder to the area he had been working in earlier that day now dimmed by nightfall. It was empty, he and Zack being the only souls within the vicinity. Cloud felt unnerved being so close to the trees this late at night, particularly without having any of the experienced workers around. What alarmed him further was when Zack headed straight for the tree line.

"W-wait Zack what are you doing?!" Cloud burst out having long stopped following Zack in favour of standing and watching.

"I want to show you where they found that thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing we were brought up here for. Dur, what other thing could I be talking about?" He rolled his eyes like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Why would you show me that?" Cloud questioned, still not moving any closer to the trees.

"I thought you might be interested. Come on it's just some trees don't be such a baby." He crossed the distance between himself and Cloud in a few easy steps and grabbed him by the wrist this time dragging him closer to the trees. "I want to know if we can find more."

"Find more what?"

"Full of questions tonight aren't you. More of that thing."

"What thing!?" Cloud was beyond frustrated, what was it that had been found and why would Zack want to find more?

"I told you that already."

"But what is it?"

"Sorry bud, can't tell you that. Can't say that I rightfully know myself."

Cloud watched as the trees loomed closer and closer with every step. He hadn't been this close before not even that afternoon when the area had been bustling with workers.

"Zack I'm sorry but I don't want to go in the forest... It eats people." They were nearly at the edge now.

"Don't tell me you believe that crap." Zack started stopping just in front of the first few trees. "They are trees, they are wood, they exist on sunshine and rainfall not human flesh Cloud. Trees don't eat people, a few folks go in too deep and get lost and everyone goes crazy and start making up stories about how the forest is alive. Cloud it's not alive it can not trick you and for sure, it can't be put asleep by some stupid harp. Now come with me before I make you go scrub tonight's dinner pans."

Cloud nodded his head, voice trapped in his throat. He was surprised to find that even after they had passed the first few trees, his feet felt light and if he looked over his shoulder he could still see the tent set up near the edge of the woods. He breathed lighter when he saw that Zack was stopping at a place that the light still shone and he could see civilization. If he turned his eyes deeper into the woods all he could see was darkness and tree limbs. He moved into position next to Zack looking at the obviously upturned dirt. The only spot past the first tree.

"This is where they found it." Zack explained.

Cloud looked at the spot it was unremarkable just dirt and more dirt nothing of the object remained behind. The only strange thing was that there was no evidence of other spots being dug up. "Why is this the only spot they dug in?"

"What?" Zack looked at Cloud then back at the ground.

"There isn't any other spots of disturbed ground just this one."

"I dunno... maybe it was sticking up a bit." Zack took a guess.

"Marsh said it looked like a rock. Why would they dig up a rock?"

Zack stared at the spot and Cloud could see his brows furrowed in concentration. A quiet murmur passed his lips obviously a question not necessarily directed to Cloud. "Why would they?"

Cloud continued to observe his surroundings as Zack mulled over his thoughts. He wasn't familiar with what breed of tree it was that made up the majority of the forest, they looked different from the ones that grew in his mountain town. They were tall and imposing no wonder people were afraid of them. He had been terrified of the forest but now that he was standing amongst the trees, he didn't feel the trepidation he once did. It was nightfall so it was only natural that it would be dark amongst the trees the limbs blocking what little moonlight there was. He looked further into the wood picking out more trees as his eyes were slowly adjusting to the lighting and something caught his eye.

"Hey!" He exclaimed and began to move after the object. It was a glint, something red, something catching the moonlight and reflecting it back to him. Not only was it obviously, something that didn't naturally belong in a forest but it was moving. His feet moved faster as he went after it, before he knew it he was running.

He could hear Zack chasing after him. "Cloud hey Cloud stop! Don't go that way!"

His warning went unheeded as Cloud was far more intent on catching the glint in the night. What he didn't expect was for it to vanish. One moment he had his eyes trained on it and the next it was gone as if it had never been there. When he looked back to see Zack chasing after him he paled when he noticed he could no longer see the camp.

Zack finally caught up. "What the hell are you doing Cloud?"

"I saw something."

"What?"

He looked to his feet feeling ashamed, he just hoped that he hadn't lead them to far into the forest to get themselves lost. "I don't know."

Zack was furious Cloud could tell even before he started yelling. "What?! You went running off into a forest you were terrified of just moments before to chase something you don't know! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I'm sorry it was just so strange..." Cloud looked up to Zacks angry eyes. "It looked like Materia."

That statement seemed to calm Zack down. "Materia?"

Cloud nodded. "I think, I mean it kinda looked like some of the Materia I've seen in class. Round kinda shiny like it's been polished. Red... a summon Materia?"

Zack nodded. "How did you see something so far away? Where is it?"

"It was moving, in between the trees. It just disappeared when I got close to it."

"The Materia was moving Cloud?"

Cloud nodded again, choosing to sit and lean against a tree suddenly he felt weak. Zack sat next to him and let out a sigh. "Materia doesn't move on its own Cloud."

"I know that!" He defended. "But that's what I saw; I said it looked like Materia not that it was... I could have been some sort of animal as far as I know."

Zack shook his head in a negative. "No ones ever seen a living creature in these woods Cloud."

"How could they, no one ever goes in here."

Zack laughed whole-heartedly and rose back to his feet. "Come on lets get out of here."

Cloud took the hand that was offered to him and was pulled to his feet, the two turned back in the direction they had come by. He felt strangely at ease considering he was far deeper then he had ever wanted to go and couldn't see anything but trees. He and Zack joked back and forth about flying Materia and how in some cases would make a better weapon then some of the Materia offered out there. Cloud had seen some of the poorly hewn Materia out there, it was always found at a lower price and had a rough surface rather then the smooth polished exteriors of the manufactured Materia that Shinra was responsible for. When they had gotten to the point of laughing about just throwing Materia at their enemies Clouds sense of ease had lessened since they had been talking and walking for a while and there was still no sign of camp. Zack seemed put off as well, pausing to try and glimpse up at the sky with no luck the tree branches were to thick.

"I don't mean to alarm you Cloud but I think we should wait until morning before we go any further. At least with daylight we can trace our footsteps back to camp."

Clouds heart immediately began to pound in his chest. The forest was going to eat them. "So... What are we supposed to do until then?"

"I guess we just sit down and get some sleep." Zack said as he found a wide tree to lean against motioning for Cloud to sit next to him.

"Both of us... sleep at the same time." Even though the forest had proven thus far to be devoid of life, not including the mysterious Materia, the thought of them sitting there completely unguarded unnerved him.

"Don't worry you get some sleep and I'll stay up then I'll wake you and you can keep guard." Zack explained as if it would ease the boys' fears, which it didn't. "That way we'll both get some rest and we'll both be safe at the same time. Now sit down and get some sleep."

Cloud sat next to Zack and leaned against him tucking his head under the SOLDIERs chin. "I guess that's better then nothing."

Zack ran his hand along the blondes back trying to ease his worries. "I promise nothing will happen."

He wasn't sure when he drifted off to sleep but Cloud was slowly eased there by the hand on his back and the heat of the body under his head. He must have been exhausted from the days work and the trek through the forest for him to drift off so easily. When he awoke the next morning, he was greeted by the sight of a softly snoring Zack. He stiffened in a panic, muscles tense in anticipation of the worst. He could picture a hideous monster waiting for them to stir just behind a tree or a band of Wutanese bandits wanting to take any SOLDIER they could get their hands on into custody. When he moved from the warmth of Zacks arms, he was slightly surprised to find nothing. No hidden figures, no scheming Government officials, nothing but trees. He stood, knees popping and back stiff in protest to the uncomfortable night on the ground. He had made it only a few steps from the spot they had slept on when he heard Zacks groggy voice.

"Is it morning already?"

Cloud turned around, angry suddenly at the dark haired officer. "You promised me that you would wake me for my shift!"

"So I fell asleep before your turn. Nothing happened Cloud, see we're perfectly fine and it's morning now so we can find our way back to the village."

Cloud looked around, nothing looked familiar each tree the same as the next. Looking to the ground hoping to find some sort of trace of the way they had come the night before but finding no clue. His heart fell when he noticed that it looked like they had just been placed in the spot they stood in. Nothing was disturbed, the ground showed no evidence of their track. "How are we going to find our way back?"

Zack seemed to be studying the ground as well. "That's strange." He murmured obviously noticing the same thing Cloud saw. Nothing.

"It looks like no ones been here in years if ever."

"There must be some sign of us getting here last night." Zack was on his hands and knees examining the ground closer. Cloud watched him as he concentrated on the ground, but obviously found nothing that would help them seeing as he sat back with a sigh.

"I'm sorry." Cloud offered knowing that it was his fault that they were in this predicament. "I wish I hadn't run off last night."

"No it's okay... we really hadn't gone that far. I think I just lead us farther in instead of taking us back."

Cloud shook his head disagreeing with Zack. "We shouldn't blame any one I guess." He looked around at the trees surrounding them. In the sunlight they didn't seem so menacing everything had a green hue since the sun was passing through the leaves filtering through he colour pigments to bathe everything in a healthy natural glow. "We'll find our way out."

"I think I understand now." Zack said dusting the dirt from his pants. "How the forest can eat you. The trees swallow you in and don't spit you back out."

"What if we pass through them and come out the other end." Cloud joked.

"Toilet humour this early Cloud?" Zack teased.

Cloud laughed feeling his anxieties melt away. "So I guess we pick a direction and keep walking, we're bound to find an edge somewhere."

"I guess that's what we do." The settled on a direction guessing that they were heading east back toward the village, but they couldn't be sure. Neither of them could remember what side of the tree moss was supposed to grow on even though they didn't find much anyway the moss softening the ground they walked on rather then the sides of the trees.

A few hours passed and they had continued to walk in their easternish direction but hadn't seen anything other then the same trees over and over.

"Do you think we might be going in a circle?" Cloud questioned following Zack over a fallen tree.

"All the trees look the same who knows we might just be."

Cloud remained quiet for a little while still following the path Zack made for them through the trees. "I'm hungry." He finally said at length.

"Me too." And that was that, after all there wasn't anything to scavenge for and unmistakably no one had thought to bring food with them. No wonder there didn't seem to be any animals in the forest.

"I wish we had the Lunar Harp." Cloud piped up thinking back to the stories Cook had told him.

"That's just a story Cloud; no one will ever find that thing."

"It's still nice to believe." Cloud countered, imagining that if they had the mysterious harp with them they might just be able to make it through the woods.

"Over the hill and through the woods off to Grandmothers house we go." Zack sung quietly under his breath.

"My Mom liked that song." Cloud said equally quietly, remembering the nights at home and the fairy tales and songs his mother would sing to him.

"I'm not even sure if those are the right words." Zack said finally stopping to lean against a tree. "I can't remember a lot of my childhood stories. Just bits and pieces."

Cloud nodded, familiar with the feeling. "My Mom really liked that sort of stuff; she had a big book a fairy tales she used to read to me every night. I can barely tell each story apart now."

"Fuck, you think we'll ever get out of here?" Zack said looking up to the tree branches. "Hey..." He said before Cloud could respond to his first question. "You any good at climbing trees Cloud?"

"Yeah, used to do that all the time back home."

"Good, now scamper up that tree like you were trying to scare the living daylights out of your Mom. Parents hate it when you do something dangerous like that."

Zack boosted Cloud up to the lowest branch and nervously Cloud made his way up the tree. The branches seemed strong enough to hold his weight but he still tested each one before climbing higher. He managed to make up to the top, clinging to the branch beneath his shaking body. Popping up above the foliage, he was disappointed to see nothing but green leaves and branches. No sign any direction of where the Village might be. He shimmied back down the tree and was helped down to the ground by Zack.

"So any luck?"

"Nothing, just trees, trees, and more trees." Cloud sighed feeling hungry and thirsty. "I'm starting to think that this forest is a Government conspiracy."

"Why would you say that?" Zack questioned. Sitting next to Cloud who was trying to catch his breath from the climb.

"It looks like the trees were planted in such a way to trick you. Every few feet they look like they're in the same position... maybe that's why we think we're going in circles."

"Hey you were the one that said you thought we we're going in circles. You honestly think that the Government came here and planted these trees hundreds of years ago?" Zack asked in disbelief.

"Well when you put it like that... I guess not." Cloud dug the toe of his boot into the dirt, wishing he could stay out of trouble. The sat in silence, both lost in thought. Zack watching Cloud dig into the ground. He kicked up peoples and dirt one particularly stubborn rock flew and bounced off a tree. Cloud stopped noticing the odd shape; he stood crossed the small distance and picked it up examining it. "Hey Zack... is this a shell?"

He handed it to the SOLDIER for a second opinion. Watching as he turned it over in his fingers. "What the hell?"

He tossed it back to Cloud. "Sure looks like a shell."

Cloud felt the surface over looking at the fan shape of a classic symbol for the beach. They were to far away from the ocean for a shell to be here. Some one must have brought it here. "How could this have gotten here?"

"If we find a skeleton somewhere we'll know." Zack said standing again. "I just hope that we'll find a stream somewhere soon. We can last a while without food but we'll be in trouble if we don't find water soon it's been too long already."

They set off again still going in their easternish direction. Cloud followed behind Zack playing with the shell in his pocket and watching his friends face contorted in worry. He was worried himself, his mouth feeling parched and his stomach growling. There had to water somewhere around her for the trees to be growing so well.

Cloud had been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed when Zack stopped in front of him, causing Cloud to bump into him. "Hey Cloud. Do you think that maybe a long time ago this area might have been under water?"

Cloud shrugged. "You mean like hundreds of years ago?"

"Maybe... maybe even thousands of years ago."

"I guess it could have... why do you think that?" Cloud questioned, coming around Zacks side to look at him inquisitively.

Zack didn't answer right away; instead he leaned over and pulled something from the ground. Cloud watched curiously noticing a tightly spiralled shell in the SOLDIERs hand. "Another one?"

Zack examined it turning the shell over in his hands, running his fingers over its surface. "How many of these do you think we'll find if we look?" He moved his toe through the dirt disturbing the surface and bringing to light many different rocks and pebbles but no shells.

"They might be spread out through the whole forest." Cloud reasoned, watching the dirt fly.

"Let's take another break." Zack said.

Cloud agreed not wanted to travel any further; they had been at this all day so far. He leaned against Zack and they collapsed onto the ground together. Falling into a comfortable snuggle Cloud closed his eyes. They must have fallen asleep for the next time Cloud opened his eyes the shadows were longer and the slight breeze that had accompanied them earlier had increased. He felt Zacks arm wrapped protectively around him, when Cloud shivered slightly from the wind Zack woke.

"Hey what's going on?" He inquired, looking around sleepy eyed.

"Sorry the winds just a little chilly." Cloud spoke.

Zack rubbed the sleep from his eyes using that hand that wasn't holding onto Clouds thin shoulder. "I guess the weather's turning for the worst. Maybe it'll rain and we can catch some to drink." He offered, again trying to look up through the trees.

The wind seemed much worse above them rattling the leaves so that there was a roar of the branches. Cloud shivered again, suddenly worried about the storm overhead. They say you should never be under a tree during a thunderstorm, what if that was what this is? "Zack what if there's lightning?"

"Don't worry Cloud, we'll be safe enough. Let's find somewhere to take shelter." Cloud not being sure where they would find something like shelter silently followed Zack letting the more experienced Shinra employee use his expertise.

It was just starting to rain when they found it. A tree with large roots protruding from the ground, making a hollow just big enough for the two to fit into. They crammed in pressing their backs against the dirt wall behind them. Cloud yelped and pulled away when he felt something dig into the small of his back. He turned around to investigate, ignoring the concerned look in Zacks eyes, sticking out of the wall was yet another shell. He pulled it out, looking at the large spiral, working its way to a point. He looked over the incandescent surface as he sat back holding it so Zack could see it as well.

"Told ya we'd find more." He laughed pulling the blonde close to him.

Cloud pocketed the shell with the first leaning into Zack. They sat in silence watching the rain fall feeling warm from each others body heat filling the small space. Cloud wondered if he would feel this comfortable with anyone else. He could never picture himself sitting this close with his roommate or anyone from the Shinra building. He was a romantic at heart and in the past had thought about waiting out a rainstorm with Tifa, he had dreamed about it too. Usually they would be standing under the awning of the traveling Materia merchant that would sometimes pass through Nibelhiem during the summers watching the rain fall and splash against the roof of the Old Shinra Manor. Maybe he'd have his arm around her, like Zack did now, or sometimes he would hold her hand. The rain would always continue, Tifa would get cold giving Cloud the excuse to hold her tight... then... then they would kiss short and sweet. It always was a dream and now here he was snuggling with a 5'7" male SOLDIER. He let out a small disappointed sigh, it was still kind of romantic he guessed, besides the fact that he was thirsty and hungry and lost in the middle of a forest with a bad reputation.

"Hey Cloud check it out." Zack pointed toward the base of the tree just above their heads where water was gathering in a little dip. "Have a drink." He pushed Cloud a bit urging him to stand.

He stood and brought his mouth to the little puddle and slurped it up quickly, watching as the heavy rainfall filled it again in no time, he slurped it a second time feeling refreshed. When he sat, again Zack stood for his turn. It wasn't the best tasting water, but to Cloud it was heaven soothing his parched throat and filling him just a little. At least he knew they wouldn't dehydrate anytime soon, as long as the rain held up long enough. The continued taking turns lapping up the water when enough had collected until they both felt satisfied. Then they sat back down resuming the position they had been in when they first found the dry hollow. "Let's spend the night here Zack." Cloud said suddenly feeling his eyes grow heavy.

"Sure we'll have to wait out the storm anyway." Zack said leaning forward to look up at the sky, what little he could see of it. "Looks like it might last the night anyway."

"Mmm." Cloud responded, not looking forward to another night on the hard ground.

"Hey Cloud."

"Mmm."

Zack leaned down and planted a kiss on Clouds lips, short and sweet just like he pictured in his dreams with Tifa. But this wasn't Tifa... but it felt just as good so he leaned into it and pressed his lips back. Pulling back only when he realised what exactly he was doing. This was Zack, a first class SOLDIER, a guy! Zack pulled away as well giving Cloud as much space as he could in the cramped confinement.

"Sorry I didn't mean." Zack started to apologize but stopped.

Cloud wasn't paying attention he was focused on the dirt wall next to him, looking at a tiny shell near his shoulder. Another one, he left it though no point in picking them all up. His first kiss, it was everything he wanted it to be. Well almost, it had the right elements the rain, the chill in the air, the protective arm; he was supposed to be with Tifa though. He started to convince himself that it didn't matter, he liked Zack maybe not like that but he was still a friend and at least he wasn't drunk or something like that. He waited awhile before he addressed Zack. "I'm sorry for pulling away like that."

"No don't worry I understand, I shouldn't have done that in the first place."

Cloud gave a little chuckle. "You realise we're having one of those awkward conversations you see those lovey dovey couples have."

Zack laughed. "Aww man I promised myself I would never have one of those."

Cloud laughed along remember many situations when he had gone into the little cafe situated on a corner near the Shinra building and seen the infamous couples sitting in their booths holding hands apologizing to each other for some stupid fight or something equally stupid. Cloud never wanted to be them either. "Okay so let's make a deal. No matter what happens between us we'll never ever be one of those cafe couples."

Zack shook Clouds hand. "It's a deal." He leaned forward to look at the sky again. "Looks like the rain is starting to let up now."

Cloud listened for the raindrops indeed they had lessoned but hadn't gone away completely the wind had died down and darkness was upon them now. "So we've been in here for a whole day now."

"Yep... hopefully not much longer. Let's just get some sleep and concentrate on getting out of here tomorrow." He shifted his arm around Cloud again, it was the only way they could fit both their shoulders comfortably inside of the hollow. "You're okay if we both sleep?"

"Yeah... we've been in here this long without seeing anything. I doubt we'll be overtaken by monsters all of a sudden." Cloud felt safe in the woods, despite the fact the day before he had been terrified of it and had spent 24 hours trapped in the leafy dungeon. It didn't take long for sleep to come.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next day found Cloud and Zack still walking in their easternish direction, with far less motivation behind their steps. Hope that they would find an edge to the forest was growing dim and the puddles of water that had been left behind from the nights rainfall had almost dried up by now. They had stopped during the early morning to quench their thirst again. Cloud was getting frustrated with each step they took. He was tired of looking at the trees they all looked the same, he was tired of occasionally finding shells, and he was tired of the fact that there was no sign of that mysterious Materia he had seen.

"I'm tired of this." He finally voiced his opinion.

"Yeah join the club." Zack sounded equally frustrated.

"I'm turning around." Cloud couldn't be sure, if they were walking in circles or if they were just going deeper and deeper into the forest. Either way he couldn't just keep walking like this. Just like that he turned heal and started walking the direction they had come from, leaving Zack behind.

"Cloud you can't do that." Zack ran after Cloud and grabbed him by the hand, trying to stop his advancement. Cloud was far too stubborn and fought Zack every step of the way. "What are you going to achieve going that way?"

"Well if I go that way for another two days I might end up where we started." Cloud countered.

"Are you saying that I've just lead us farther into the forest?"

"No! I mean who knows where we are. Whenever we trying climbing the trees to have a look around all we see is trees! The forest eats people Zack not literally but it's eaten us and we're not going to get out of it." Cloud was upset, no he was beyond upset he could feel tears pooling in the corner of his eyes and his vision was beginning to blur.

Zack pulled him into a hug. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better... we'll go back the way we came."

Cloud hugged him back. "I just want to go home."

"Lets move, just standing here won't do anything." Zack took Clouds hand and they started to walk back the way they had just come. Moving their feet at a slower pace, they almost seemed like two lovers out for a casual walk in the park rather then two friends lost in a forest of myth. "So what do we do if this doesn't work?"

"Curl up and wait for death." Cloud tired, fearing that it might have to come to that.

"Don't say that Cloud, not even close to being funny."

"I never said it was supposed to be funny." He scuffed his feet along the surface of the ground as he walked, much like he used to do when he was a child reluctant to go to the store with his mother. "It might just happen."

Zack sighed as he stopped their slow walk, squeezing Clouds hand reassuringly and pulling him into a hug. "I promise you I won't let that happen."

"Zack you can't promise that because you can't guarantee it." Cloud said slightly muffled by Zacks chest.

Zack reached down and grabbed Cloud by the chin forcing him to turn his eyes up at the SOLDIER. "I'm promising you Cloud." Still holding Clouds chin, he used it to pull him closer and kissed him again. "Feel better?"

"Are you going to make a habit of this?" Cloud questioned smiling in amusement, trying to remain casual.

"Only maybe."

"What kind of an answer is that... only maybe. That doesn't even make sense." Cloud mimicked as Zack pulled him along again.

"Come on just keep walking."

They walked together hand in hand and watched as slowly trees and hidden shells passed them by. Cloud noted that something was changing, the lighting. It was getting lighter the branches seemed to be spacing out and before they knew it the camp was back in sight. Zack stopped still holding Clouds hand making him stop too. "How the hell?"

"Who cares we're out!" Cloud was beyond happy he was ecstatic.

"But we walked in one direction for nearly two days, how could we get back here in less then 10 minutes. This is fucked up."

"Maybe we were just going in circles and we were close to the village this whole time. I'm beyond caring right now I just want to get something to drink and a square meal." Cloud was antsy standing there amongst the trees while he knew there were lots of people out there and a hot meal waiting for them.

Zack nodded. "I'm so hungry."

"So why are we waiting lets go." Cloud pulled Zack along the rest of the way they broke out of the forest into the light. The workers pulled back in surprise at the sight of the two Shinra reps who were covered in dirt and sweat. Cloud saw their surprise and couldn't keep the smile from his face; he never thought the sun would feel so good.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: There she is the first chapter. It's long O.o, I put a lot of work into this and I'm trying my best to have it fit into the storyline. Mind you Crisis Core is going to throw all of that out the window. Anyway, big thanks to everyone who left a review you stroke my ego. Keep that up and leave a review for this chapter too!


	3. Chapter 2

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: Strong language, violence, character death, and more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, or any of its characters. All of that belongs to its owners Square-Enix.

Chapter Two

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When Cloud and Zack had emerged from the forest, the workers were all shocked. Word had spread that they had disappeared into the forest and no one had expected them to return. Zack recounted their tale to Cook as he and Cloud ate their first meal in two days. Cook listened patiently nodding at appropriate spots in the story; Cloud watched his reaction as he inhaled the food supplied to him. The Turks stood nearby Cloud ignored them, more interested in what the workers, the ones with experience with the forest, would have to say about their miraculous appearance.

Zack finished the story and Cook took a minute to think about what they had said. The mess hall was quiet with the exception of the sound of Zack and Cloud eating. At length Cook spoke. "The forest must have been tired of you being there."

"The forest was tired of us?" Cloud asked, curious as how the forest could tire of their presence.

"They say the forest is alive, if it is then it could have possibly bored of the two of you and spit you back out to us." Cook clarified.

"So you're saying that it wasn't because we just happened to be near the entrance and Cloud just randomly went the right way?" Zack questioned.

"Well that could be a possibility as well, the only way to know for sure would be to go back with the Lunar Harp and see if you'd be able to pass through that way."

"Okay that's it!" Zack yelled, suddenly slamming his fork to the table, causing Cloud to jump. "I'm so sick and tired of this bullshit. There is nothing in the ground around here but rocks, dirt, and materia. All of you idiots could dig for your entire life and never find that thing, besides if you did Wutei would just take it from you. Why dig for something you'll never have and something that will never benefit you?"

"Hey!" Reno of the Turks spoke up, the first thing he had said since arriving earlier. "We're not here to question their work, if they want to dig for the Government they can dig."

Cloud looked between the red head and the SOLDIER, tension was building.

"Whatever, I'm getting out of here." Zack stood and left the mess hall.

Rude crossed the short distance from where he was standing next to Reno and faced Cook, still sitting across from Cloud. "What about the object they first saw when they entered the forest?"

"The red Materia?" Cook grimaced a little. "We should have warned you about that."

"Warned us?" Cloud asked looking up suddenly.

"We've seen it before; no one knows exactly what it is, a creature or something else. It seems to try to lure people into the forest though. A trick for sure."

Cloud crossed his arms annoyed, if only he had known that before he never would have led Zack and himself into the forest like that. "Do you think it could be materia?"

"Don't kid yourself... kid." Reno said taking Zacks seat. "That could have been anything, but I doubt it could be materia, materia doesn't move."

Cloud looked into his lap. "It really looked like materia though." He was sure of it.

"None of us have ever had a good look at it, no one dares go any closer to the trees to look. The most we've seen is flashes of light and colour." Cook added. "Sounds like you've had the best sight of it, better then anyone else. You just might be right."

"That whole place is fucked up." Reno said.

"We needn't concern ourselves with it any longer." Rude said.

Cloud moved his head to look at him so fast it almost felt like he gave himself whiplash. "Needn't concern ourselves?!"

"We have completed our assignment and now that the two of you have been returned to us safe and sound we should head back."

"Aww, just when we're all getting to be friends." Cook said almost laughing.

"Don't forget, we're technically supposed to be enemies." Reno said standing from the table. He and Rude left the mess hall, leaving it empty with Cloud and Cook.

"Enjoy your meal?" Cook asked looking at the young cadet.

"Anything would taste like a five star meal after that experience." Cloud said looking at his empty plate feeling satisfied.

"Bet you a cool glass of beer would top puddle water any day."

"I'm not old enough for that."

"Shame." Cook stood to leave. "Coming with me or do you plan to lick that plate clean?"

"Well the offer does sound tempting." Cloud said giving his empty plate another look, before standing and following Cook out of the hall.

It was late afternoon, and not many people were working anymore. They stood around talking amongst themselves giving Cloud curious glances when he walked past. Cloud did his best to ignore them feeling conscious about their eyes on him. He followed Cook into his tent; tension's easing as soon as he was behind the heavy canvas and away from the stares.

"Why is everyone staring like that?"

"We've had a few people disappear into the forest before, you and your companion are the first to come back." Cook sat on a folding chair set up in the corner, it sagged under his weight. "They are just curious as to why two fellows such as yourself, have managed to survive such an ordeal."

Cloud stood in the entranceway, he felt a little awkward. After all those stories, and all that trepidation he had felt about the forest he had still gone in there and even more managed to get out. "Do you think that the forest is really alive?"

"Hmm, hard to say." Cook leaned back; the chair gave a threatening creak in complaint. "Stories are just stories right, but every story must have a grain a truth to it. Otherwise, where would they come from? Those trees are holding a secret for sure, but what? We'll probably never know."

Cloud looked down to his hands, folded into fists. "It looks just like a normal forest, but we found something strange in there."

"You found something strange? Another object?" Cook was suddenly intrigued.

"Well no, it's probably not very important but..." He trailed off moving one hand to his pocket. He pulled out the shells and showed them to Cook. "We found these."

Cook picked up one shell and held it up to the light. "Interesting. You must have found them deeper in the forest; we've never found anything like this near the edge."

"Isn't it unusual to find something like shells so far away from the ocean?"

"Well not if someone took them there."

"They were all over the place, buried under the dirt like rocks." Cloud clarified. "We had thought that someone brought them first too, but there were just too many."

Cook handed the shell back. "Who knows maybe there once was a civilization that worshiped them or something." He laughed as if the idea was ridiculous.

Cloud shrugged. "Maybe there was. I should check in with the Turks." Cloud excused himself and left the tent, mulling over the things Cook told him.

He made a beeline for the Turks tent, knowing that they would be there. Rude said that they would be leaving soon, he knew that they would be in putting their things back together. He could see the helicopter they had arrived in sitting silently in the distance. He hated the thought of having to ride in that thing again. True enough inside the tent the Turks and Zack were finishing putting things together and rolling up their sleeping mats.

"Are we really going this soon?" Cloud asked before anyone had even looked his way.

Zack looked up, disappointment evident in his eyes. "Yeah, even though it would have been nice to stay a little bit longer just to rest up sadly we don't get that choice. We've got to report back into Shinra HQ. As it is, we're already late. You and I are probably going to have to report in about the forest, I doubt they'll accept it as a decent excuse."

"You don't think so?" Cloud asked as he went to help Zack roll his sleeping mat.

"Think about it Cloud, it's not like we just lost our way... that place was weird."

"I don't think either of you should say anything about the forest." Reno said, suddenly appearing behind Cloud. "At least the weird stuff."

"We can't cut facts when it comes to reporting to the General." Zack retorted.

"You think he's going to believe you when you tell him you went chasing after flying materia in the night? You think he'll believe you when you tell him that the forest let you go? That it was bored of you?" Reno was in Zack's face pushing for a fight.

"How do you intend to explain why we're so late getting back then? We were due back yesterday." Zack retorted not backing down.

"So you just shave the stuff that the two of you dreamed up and-" He was cut off by Zack's fist.

Zack lashed out landing a solid hit across the Turks jaw, making him fall back into the tent floor. Cloud froze as he watched the two military experts stare each other down. Before Zack had, a chance to brace himself Reno leaped up pulling a weapon out of what seemed like nowhere narrowly missing cranking the SOLDIER on the head. Instead, Zack had reached up and grabbed Reno's hand around the electro-rod. They moved about the tent as in some sort of sick parody of a dance. Cloud didn't know what he should do, he knew that they shouldn't be fighting, but he also knew that he didn't stand a chance against the two if he were to get involved. Luckily Rude was the one that stepped in. With exactly two confident strides, he crossed the distance from the bag he was packing to the fighting men and with exactly two well-placed cuffs on the back of either of their heads the fight was broken up.

"What happened in that forest no one knows, not even those two." He said as he gestured toward Cloud and Zack. "We will tell them that they went into the woods to examine the area the object was found and got lost in the dark."

It was silent for awhile, both Reno and Zack just stared in disbelieve at Rude as if neither of them could believe that he had stepped in between them. Cloud was the one who broke the silence. "I think that sounds like a good idea."

"A SOLDIER doesn't just get lost." Zack said crossing his arms, actually sounding put off at the idea.

"You did get lost." Reno said before turning and leaving the tent.

"Where are you going?" Rude inquired.

Reno's response was muffled through the canvas as he walked away. "To get the chopper ready."

"I guess we really will be going soon then." Cloud said looking over his shoulder at his bag. He didn't want to go back yet even though he had gone through a terrifying ordeal in the forest and worked his fingers to the bone, digging and running errands back and forth; he was fond of this place. He got along with the workers here far better then he did with the other cadets back in Midgar.

"Can't stay forever." Zack said picking up his bag and followed Rude out of the tent.

Cloud had one last look around the tent he barely got to spend any time in, looked at the empty floors and canvas walls before picking up his own bag and exited the same way as the others.

The helicopter was already running when he arrived at the makeshift pad. A group of people were already there talking to the Turks and SOLDIER. Among the crowd, he could spot Cook and Marsh. Marsh gave Cloud a hug and promised to visit him if he ever found himself in Midgar. Cloud hadn't realised that he had actually made some good friends while he was here.

As much as he wanted to remain there at Bone Village, and leave the stress and pressure of the Shinra SOLDIER program behind him he knew he had a duty to do. With thoughts of his promise to Tifa and his mother, he turned his back on the people he met and disappeared into the helicopter, taking a seat next to Zack. He watched the group on the ground wave goodbye and watched as they grew smaller and smaller and eventually disappear. He leaned back into his seat and sighed, he kept his eyes on the window watching the empty sky.

"Well I'm glad to be out of there." Rude said, disturbing the quiet.

"You are?" Zack asked.

"I wish we could stay longer." Cloud said, finally looking away from the window. He looked Rude over unsure why the Turk would be wanting to go back to actual work in the Shinra building. Then he noticed it, a metal case set on the seat next to Rude. "Is that the object?" He questioned, recognising the case.

Rude gave it a quick look. "Yes."

"You brought it with you? I thought you were just supposed to look at it there." Cloud wasn't sure why this thing was with them now, the thing that he desperately wanted to know what it was.

"They allowed us to take it." Zack added in. "The scientists are going to have a better examination of it when we get back to the Shinra building."

"The scientist's?" Cloud had heard of them, and of all the horrible stories of what they did to their subjects.

"Yeah, Hojo's passing it off to someone." Zack said casually.

Cloud remembered seeing Hojo once a fellow cadet had pointed him out in the hallways. Cloud shuddered when he thought about the man's appearance and the stories that went along with it. "Are you sure that's a good thing to do?"

"Of course it is, they'll be able to know more about it then we will. They can look at more of it then just its appearance." Rude explained, setting one hand on the metal case.

"Look at more of it?" Cloud winced at another stupid question.

"Yeah, you know stuff like what's it made out of, structural settings, yadda yadda science talk. You know that kind of stuff." Zack said slinging one arm across the back of Clouds seat.

Cloud nodded, feeling stupid for asking a question he already knew that answer to. Some impression he had made, he had gotten a first class SOLDIER lost, asked numerous stupid questions, and on top of all that effectively made sure that they were all late checking back into Head Quarters.

"I sure hope that the trip back doesn't take too long." Zack said turning his attention to the window.

Cloud nodded his agreement, stomach feeling queasy already from the movement. They sat in silence for a while, Reno sometimes conversing with them from the front. Just small talk, nothing more about the object or Clouds apparent ineptitude. It wasn't long before an hour passed, and Cloud was bored out of his mind. There was nothing out the window really to look at, just the same old clouds and nothing but water passing under them. Zack had fallen asleep, and Rude was as quiet as usual. He sighed as he leaned against the window, wishing he was able to fall asleep as easily as Zack, at least then he wouldn't have to worry about the unease he felt in his stomach. He hated getting motion sickness and he was hoping that the trip back would go as well as the first trip. That didn't seem to be happening, Reno wasn't helping much at the controls. The ride had been a little rocky for the last half hour and was steadily getting worse. A large bump was enough to wake Zack next to him.

"Huh? Wuzzat?" Was Zacks sleepy reaction.

"We seem to be having some turbulence." Rude said from his seat, releasing his seat belt to move up to the cockpit with Reno.

Cloud's stomach twisted into a knot, he closed his eyes and concentrated on not spewing his lunch. He had made it to Bone Village without feeling sick, why oh why couldn't it be the same on the return trip? Rude hadn't made it to the cockpit before another rough patch sent him flying into Zack. In fact, everything seemed to be tossing and turning, far worse then they had when they had hit that crosswind first time around.

Zack caught Rude quickly and held him firmly at they were all crashing into one another and Cloud felt his head bump the window a few times. Faintly he could hear the blips and beeps of what he assumed to be warning signals in the cock pit, laced with Renos cursing of course. He helped Zack assist Rude back to his seat so that he wasn't moving about the cabin. All it would take was a knock on the head and Rude could be in trouble.

"I think we're having some problems." Rude said calmly once he was strapped back into his seat.

"No shit." Zack said harshly.

Cloud leaned back into his seat, praying silently for the ride to end. One peak out the window and he forgot about the rough turbulence. They were falling, he watched as the ground was rushing up at them. "We're going down." He cried out in a panicked voice.

A yell from the cockpit was the only warning they got. "Hold on tight it's going to be a rough landing!"

They struck the ground; Cloud could see dirt fly up out the window as the blades bit into the earth. He braced himself against the armrests on his seat and tried his best to block the world out. They weren't crashing they were still back in Bone Village, Cloud was asleep in his tent. A burning sensation on his cheek told him otherwise. Something had cut him, probably a piece from the hull of the helicopter, as they skidded within the craft across the ground. It seemed like hours before it came to a stop. Sudden stillness and a soft hiss sound, pressure releasing from somewhere. Cloud didn't dare to move he joints stiff and knuckles white from holding onto the armrest so hard.

"Everyone okay?" Rude said unbuckling himself from the seat.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay." Zack said also freeing himself from his seat. "Cloud?"

Cloud didn't respond, he stared straight ahead. He was shocked that they had actually just crashed just like that like a rock from the sky.

"Cloud?!" Zack was suddenly in his sight.

"Huh? What?"

"He seems to be alright, nothing major." That was Rude's voice Cloud was able to identify. "I'll go check on Reno. Get him out of here."

"Right." Zack agreed, reaching down to release the seat belt that held Cloud in place. Cloud stopped him, moving his hands from the armrest. "Cloud?"

He could feel it, the nausea returning. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Zack rushed Cloud out of the helicopter through a hole cut into the side. Cloud barely had time to make it away from the wreckage before he spewed his lunch over the ground. He could faintly hear Rude yelling something as he tried his best to keep his stomach in place. Zacks hand rested lightly on his back, Cloud knew he was trying to ease his discomfort.

"I gotta go see what Rude needs, you going to be okay?" Zack asked calmly.

Cloud nodded, not wanting to open his mouth again. He rested one hand against a cluster of rocks not trusting his knees to hold him up. He didn't want to focus on what had happened or the tossing in his belly, although that one didn't seem to be working very well. He lost it two more times before he tried to move away from the rocks. As he stood there, trying to get everything back together, he could hear the SOLDIER and the Turks moving about the wreckage, they sounded concerned. As soon as he felt confident that his legs would hold him up, he turned to go help them out. He was glad to see that at least the ruins of the helicopter wasn't burning. As he approached the wreckage he could see Zack and Rude carrying something, he started to feel concerned when he saw a flash of red hair. Ignoring the queasiness he still felt, he ran the rest of the way. Just as he feared the Turk looked unconscious, his right leg looked torn up.

He helped brace Reno when Zack started to slide after part of the uneven ground gave way under his foot. They moved him to a safe place away from the wrecked helicopter, Cloud stayed with him under Zack's orders while he and the other Turk removed the rest of their belongings from the helicopter. Cloud had no other choice but to sit there with Reno's head in his lap watching the other two. They seemed to be taking their sweet time, obviously discussing something with Cloud out of hearing range. Cloud scowled as he wondered what they could be talking about. The weight in his lap and the concern in his heart was what kept him in place. Eventually they returned lugging whatever the could find still in decent shape. Cloud was relieved to see that his bag was still in one piece.

Zack sat next to Cloud on the ground, sighing. "I can't believe all the bad luck we've been having. What the hell happened?"

"We won't know until Reno wakes up." Rude said also sitting on the ground metal case with him.

Zack pulled one bag forward, one Cloud was sure hadn't been removed when they arrived at Bone Village. He pulled out a pile of material and tent poles, it was a regulation Shinra tent. He sorted out the broken poles from the ones that remained unharmed. Then some potions and ethers out of another bag, he lined them all up and gave Rude a nod. Cloud guessed this had something to do with what they were discussing before.

Rude stood and Zack followed suit. "Cloud I'm going to give you some orders and I expect you to follow them exactly." Zack started. Cloud nodded in understanding. "Good. I want you to stay here with Reno take care of him, explain everything if he wakes up."

Cloud watched as Zack balled up the tent material, Rude lifted Reno's head from Clouds lap and Zack put the Material under it. "That'll let you do some work." He motioned to another tent bag. "Between the two tents enough tent poles should have survived to set up at least one. Move him into the tent, watch for any monsters that might show up, and make sure you treat him with the potions if he wakes up he'll need them. Rude and I are going to scope out for the nearest village for help; we're not sure where we landed so we can't be positive on how far we are from anyone."

Cloud nodded his understanding, feeling a little stunned. Were they actually going to leave him by himself to take care of the Turk? After giving once last glance at the fallen Turk, he found his voice. "Why are you leaving me behind?"

"We guess that you'd rather be here then out there by yourself." Rude said gesturing toward the horizon.

"Rude's going one way I'm going the other. If we don't find signs of anyone with in an hour we'll head back." Zack explained.

Yes, Cloud decided they had definitely discussed this before. "O-okay then." He resigned himself to his fate.

"Take care of him." Rude said placing one hand on Cloud small shoulder.

"Yeah." Cloud looked up the other Turk; he could see concern cross his face, despite the sunglasses that hid his eyes. "I'll do my best."

He stood there watching the two walk away in opposite directions, Zack one way, Rude the other complete with the objects case. He gave Reno a quick glance before setting himself to work. He pulled out the other tent, checked it for any holes, sorted out the broken poles, and began to set the structure up. It seemed some of that basic training was actually paying off, he thought back to the multiple times they had to set tents up and tear them down in class. The tent went up without any major problems aside from the final pole snapping as he tried to tighten that material around it. Luckily, a few extra poles had survived, he thought as he pulled out the broken piece. Once that was set up and he had moved their scant belongings into the tent, including the potions, he turned his attention back to Reno.

He was still unmoving upon the ground. Cloud sat down and again moved his head into his lap, he wasn't sure if it would be more comfortable for the Turk or not but he felt better with the weight there. As he sat there watching the Turk he wondered if he should move him into the tent, but seeing, as he would have to move him by himself Cloud guessed that for now the fresh air would probably be better for him. Instead he peaked at his wounded leg, Rude had set it in a temporary split as a precaution they didn't think that his leg was broken. It was wrapped from top to bottom in gauze that they had surfaced from the aircrafts first aid kit, Cloud could see blood starting to seep through in some spots. He sure hoped that Zack or Rude could find some help somewhere, he knew that they didn't have any more gauze to change Reno's bandage with and he wasn't sure how long this one would last. He sat back and ran his hands through the red hair, trying his best to calm himself. He didn't know how much time had passed, had it been an hour? Were Zack and Rude going to come back soon?

When a cool breeze began to blow Cloud decided to try to move the Turk into the tent. Thankfully, there had been a level spot close by so that he had a good place to set up the tent without having to worry about moving the Turk too far. He took care not to bump or graze his leg and managed to get him into the Tent a little surprised with himself for being able to do it by himself. Sense of accomplishment behind him he settled back in with Reno's head in his lap again. Again, he began to wonder where the other two were, and if they were okay.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Not long after they had settled into the tent, Reno began to stir, shifting uncomfortably in Clouds lap. Cloud wondered if he would be able to administer a potion to the Turk if he still wasn't awake. He did his best to calm the older man by running his hands soothingly through his hair and over his cheeks. Which seemed to calm him a bit, at least it eased his breathing. Still Cloud sat there, eating himself up inside with worry and fighting back tears that he knew would come all to easily if he kept thinking the way he was. He knew he had to stay strong; he shuffled through his bag trying his best to stay still for Reno. He pulled out his pictures that he had carefully hidden under an old shirt. To his dismay the glass in the frames were cracked and broken, yet he could still see throughout them and look upon the faces that were his inspiration. He ran a finger over one of the cracks as he looked into his mothers chipper face. He'd stay strong with them by his side, even just a picture, how could he fail?

A weak voice broke his thoughts. "What you got there?"

"A-ah." Cloud looked down to see Reno, eyes open even though they were clouded with pain. "I didn't think you were awake."

"Can't sleep all the time." He tried to sit up only to grimace in pain and lay back in Clouds lap. "I guess this is more comfortable anyway." He tried to joke.

"I have some potions for you." Cloud reached over for the potions, glad that he had the sense to place them close.

"Thanks." Reno said with gratitude

Cloud did everything he could to make Reno comfortable, fretting over his leg and trying his best to find a comfortable head rest for him. However, Reno decided that he was most comfortable on Clouds lap.

"Where is everyone else? Are they okay?" Reno finally asked, once Cloud seemed to have settled down.

"They're okay; they've gone to find help... They've been gone for awhile though." Cloud felt his fear start to return.

"Don't worry about them; they're both trained for these kinds of situations." Reno reassured him. "You know you never answered my question from before."

"What question?"

"What were you looking at before?"

Cloud looked to his bag where he had stashed his pictures again. "Just pictures."

"Just pictures? They must be something special if you brought them along with you."

"One is my Mom, the other is a girl I know from back home. They're just pictures." Cloud reaffirmed.

"Whatever you say." Reno tossed the topic off and they sat in silence again.

Cloud sat there uncomfortable with the silence knowing that the red head was awake. He knew that Reno was a bit of a talker and his sudden silence unnerved him. Yet Cloud didn't know what to say to break the silence.

Finally, Reno spoke again. "So you like this girl?"

"What?"

"The girl in your picture, you like her right?" Reno must really like confrontation Cloud guessed.

"I used to."

"What happened?"

Cloud was starting to wonder if he liked the silence better. "I don't know, I guess just time away. I don't know why I liked her much to start with." Was he actually saying this?

"Let me guess cute face right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I come from a small town so I guess all the boys liked her."

"She's a little short on personality then?"

"What?! Why would you say that?" Cloud pulled back a little affronted.

"Hey I'm just taking a stab in the dark here." Reno said, trying his best to shrug in his position. "Why don't you know why you liked her then?"

Now it was Clouds turn to shrug. "Well I was never popular back home. I got left behind a lot, but I made her a promise I guess that's why I still have her picture, to remind me."

"What did you promise her?"

"What's with all these questions?" Reno was delving into private parts of his life he never really wanted to admit to anyone.

"Hey I'm just making conversation to make the time pass. Now answer the question."

Cloud frowned but answered anyway. "I promised her that if she ever was in trouble that I'd come back and save her."

"Once you become a SOLDIER?"

Cloud nodded.

"What if it never happens? What if you never make it into SOLDIER?" Reno questioned.

"That's not an option." Cloud's face turned grim. What if he didn't make it? "I'd still have to come rescue her."

"Sounds like she's the one who likes you." Reno said from Clouds lap.

"What? No, she wouldn't like me."

"You're just in denial now, what girl would make someone promise something like that if she wasn't interested?"

"She's just trying to humour me." Cloud felt self-conscious.

"I guess."

They slipped into silence again, giving Cloud enough time to mull over the things Reno said. Could Tifa really like Cloud? No that's just ridiculous, there were a lot of boys in Nibelheim that were a lot better then Cloud, taller, more confident, better built. There was no way Tifa would like him. Besides, his thoughts began to wander to his time in the forest with Zack, the kiss under the tree. No, no that was wrong he knew that much. Though it felt good for something so wrong. He sighed as he tried to make himself more comfortable on the tent floor without disturbing the Turk.

"I'm tired of laying here." Reno said looking up at Cloud. "Help me sit up."

Cloud did such, wincing along with Reno every time he had to move his leg. He wasn't sure why but he felt guilty for the Turks pain. "Are you okay like that?" Cloud asked once Reno was sitting up."

"Yeah it's fine, not the first time I've been injured yo." From his sitting position, Reno was able to inspect his leg for the first time. "It's a bad one too."

"We don't have any gauze to change the bandage either." Cloud looked to his bag. "I don't think anything in our bag's are clean enough either."

"It'll be fine for now." Reno said tentatively picking at a red spot. "If those fuckers are gone too much longer we might just have to improvise though."

Cloud nodded his agreement. "I hope they'll be back soon, they've been gone too long."

"That might just mean that they found help." Reno said reassuringly.

"Or they fell down a cliff and can't get back."

"You're too negative. Try to think up a little, I'm a little shocked how someone so cute can be so pessimistic."

"Cute?" Cloud caught that one.

"Yeah cute, got a problem with that?" Reno said not backing down from what he had said earlier.

"Yes, I'm not cute."

"Well you're certainly not some big macho thick headed SOLDIER brute like your friend there." Reno said, obviously referring to Zack.

"I will be." Cloud said quietly, after all that was his life ambition.

"You should try out for the Turks, you're smarter then the SOLDIERs more calculating you'd fit in with us real well." Reno said pulling Cloud closer despite his leg.

"The Turks work over the law." Cloud had heard stories about what they've done, they were assassin's, they did Shinra's dirty work, brought in the people they wanted for SOLDIER didn't even matter if that person wanted to be a SOLDIER or not.

"That's what makes it so much fun. This here what we're doing now." Reno gestured to the tent they were sitting in and toward the wreckage; they could see though the tents only opening. "This is what makes it so much fun, it's living on the edge, and it's making the most of your life while you still have it."

"It's putting your life in danger." Cloud moved back, not caring if he hurt the Turk or not. "We all could have died in that crash, and that's not an honourable way to go that's not defending our values or what we'd want to die for."

"Do you think it'll be that much better being in SOLDIER?"

Cloud's voice caught in his throat, he hadn't thought of it that way. "SOLDIERs do more for the people then the Turks do. You're the Presidents lap dogs."

"Hey! The Turks are a lot more respectable then many divisions in Shinra. They do shit there you couldn't even dream of." Reno grew defensive. Each standing up for their end of the milita scale. "We're above the military, not the law."

Cloud pulled his knees up to his chin and formed a pout, he didn't like loosing arguments. "You're still murderers."

"SOLDIERs are worse." Reno looked Cloud over; Cloud could fell his eyes moving over him. "Aww come on it's not all bad, C'mere."

Reno pulled a surprised Cloud into a hug. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cheering you up."

Cloud did his best to pull away; this normally wasn't what people did after an argument. "I don't need to be cheered up."

"Sure you do." Reno didn't let up his grip and pulled Cloud closer. "Here's the final trick." He placed a wet sloppy kiss on Clouds cheek.

"Eww." Cloud protested.

"Aww, he's so cute." Reno sang out in a singsong voice, before planting another one on the other side. "I could do this all day."

"Stop!" Cloud did his best to wrestle away, but to no avail. He ended up with yet another sloppy kiss on his face. "I mean it!" Finally as a last resort Cloud pulled back an arm and firmly hit Reno's injured leg.

Reno yelped in surprise and pain, Cloud used this to his advantage and moved away as fast as possible. "Ow! And you say I'm a dirty fighter."

"I told you to stop." Cloud said defending his actions.

"I can't help it when your so little and cute."

"Stop calling me that!" Cloud formed another threatening fist. "I'll hit you again."

"Okay, okay you don't have to tell me twice." He moved back, using one arm to brace himself up, and the other rubbed gingerly at his leg. "Doesn't change the fact that you're still cute."

"I warned you!" Cloud made a motion like he really was going to attack the sore leg again, but pulled back last second to enjoy the wince the Turk made. "That'll show you."

"You're no fun, can't take a joke to save your life." Reno sulked.

"I don't get how Rude can put up with you for so long."

"That's because he loves me." Reno said with a smile.

"Speaking of Rude... I wonder how far away those two are?" Cloud mused.

Reno shrugged. "Go check you might be able to see them if they're coming back."

Cloud took his suggestion and left the tent behind, making sure that the Turk would be fine first, and climbed up on top of the ruined helicopter to get a good view that their surroundings. He couldn't see anything in any direction, yet he didn't want to give up hope. He shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun and squinted into the distance. His heart fell when still there was no sign of either body walking toward them. How could they both have disappeared? Did they want to leave Cloud here wondering if they were okay? He sat on the wreckage sincerely wishing that he could have stayed behind in Midgar, and listening to his stomachache rumble in protest. How much worse could this trip get to be? He made a vow to stay out of many fights as possible if he ever made it back to the Shinra building. He really missed having a bed to sleep in, even if he had to put up with his roommates snores. He missed warm meals from the cafeteria and the smell of the change room. What he needed right now was a hot shower with some flowery shampoo to wash his miseries away. At least the sun felt good on his back. No this was bad moping about wasn't going to help the situation, they had to figure out where they were. He turned his eyes back to the scenery to see if he could spot anything that they might have missed earlier, there must be a landmark or something close by. He couldn't even be sure if they were anywhere near Midgar. Though considering how long they had been in the helicopter before they crashed they couldn't be to far off. Perhaps if they could figure out what direction it was they would be able to walk the rest of the way back. If they were south of Midgar they would be in luck Cloud knew from class that while everything directly North of Midgar was essentially barren there was a town not to far south of the city. He heard rumours of other small settlements in the southern sections of the continent as well. But the only one who would know exactly where they were was... Reno!

He burst back into the tent, full of questions for Reno. Why he hadn't asked them before he wasn't sure. "Reno!"

"What? Do you see them?" He asked leaning forward.

"No but I might be able to figure out where we landed with your information."

"Ah right."

"How far were we from Midgar when we started having troubles? What route did you take? Where abouts where we supposed to arrive?" The questions started to pour out of Clouds mouth faster then Reno was able to answer them.

"Listen kid. It's not a very far trip from Midgar to Bone village it's almost directly north of the city. They'd have a better chance of running into the city's lower barricades then to find a settlement or anything like that around here."

"Oh, really?" He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed, so they had landed North of the city. "So then... maybe they'll luck out and someone will see them from the city."

"C'mere Cloud." Reno gestured Cloud to sit next to him. "The fact is that we're not to far off from the city it would be a little better then a days walk from here, but the chances of someone seeing us from their living room window or something is zero to none."

"What do you mean?"

"The people in the slums might just take someone in if they were to find someone wandering about outside of the city, but they're all blocked in. The folks on the upper level have their heads stuck up their asses so far they're not aware of anything anymore." Reno explained, pulling a distressed Cloud into a hug. "I know you're just trying your best to get us out of a sticky situation and I can't begin to tell you how much that means to me, but you really are pretty innocent when it comes to the workings of the outside world."

Cloud leaned into the hug, the first thing that had felt secure since they had landed here. "We won't be stuck out here forever."

"The best bet is that they'll come back and all of us will set back out toward the city together, we've got the best chance doing that."

"Are you sure?" Cloud questioned.

"Fuck no." Reno looked down to Cloud snuggled into his chest. "But can anyone ever be sure?"

"I guess... I'm just worried about them, after the forest and now this. I don't think that I can handle the stress much longer."

"Some SOLDIER." Reno joked.

"Hey!" Yet despite the insults he didn't pull away from that warm body, he felt safe there. "What happened? Why did we crash?"

"Mechanical failure." Reno said simply, as if it was something he was used to.

"Mechanical failure?" Cloud echoed.

"Yeah--- we did have a--- little--- problem on the way up north but I didn't think anything of it, just thought something had caught the rotor temporarily. Heh, I guess I thought wrong."

"No shit." Cloud was a little put off, why the hell would he not have something like that checked out? "You mean you knew that it was having problems? What happened to the crosswind?"

"I just told Rude to tell that to you guys, I didn't want you to worry."

Cloud pulled away from his safe hug as if he had been burned. "You lied to us, just to keep us from being concerned?! Don't you think that would have been the smart thing to do? Don't you think that maybe you should have checked it out by now? We would have been at home with a square meal in our bellies by now if it wasn't for you incompetence!" He felt tears start to form in the corner of his eyes; he was tired and hungry and wanted nothing more then a real bed to sleep on and a hot meal.

"Hey don't forget I got the worst of the crash so I guess Karma's already bitten back." Reno retorted, not bothering to defend his actions from days previous.

"You got the worst?! Just because you scraped up your leg? Did you forget that I haven't slept indoors in three days? That I have had one fucking meal? I didn't even get to keep that down because of your actions!! You, you're just -just." Cloud couldn't find the words to express how upset he was instead he lashed out. He took one strong sweep at the Turks tender leg, resulting in a distressed yelp and a very noticeable shift away from the angry blonde. His anger left him when he saw genuine fear in the Turks eye. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean. I just- I'm just tired of this."

Reno gave him a cautious look not quite sure, if he should trust the cadet. "No it's okay. I really should have had the thing checked out." He gestured vaguely outside where the helicopter sat.

Cloud nodded in agreement.

"In my defence though." Reno started, ignoring the warning glance Cloud gave him. "Reno didn't think anything of it either. It really did seem like something very minor; we never thought it would make us go down. I'm sorry."

Cloud sat and listened to the Turks explanation weighing his options in his head. He could remain angry and go out looking for the others again, or he could accept the apology and go back to the safe warm hug. He decided that he'd be happier curled up in someone's arms then wandering around outside by himself. "It's okay. You're the professional after all, and everyone makes mistakes."

He moved back into the open arms and rested his head on the firm chest.

"You look tired; maybe you should get some sleep." Reno's voice rumbled through his chest, which made Cloud smile.

"No I don't feel like it, I'd rather stay awake in case someone comes." He wasn't sure what else might come as well.

"You've got to keep me safe from all the monsters out there too I guess." Reno offered.

"Do you really think that there are monsters out there?" Cloud questioned.

"Of course there is, we've fought them before."

"You have? There are?" Cloud had hoped that all the stories he had heard from the other cadets had been just that, stories.

"Of course it doesn't matter where you go now a days there are monsters everywhere." Reno leaned back against a pile of their luggage. "Weren't there monsters where you come from?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, but they got worse after Shinra built the reactor."

"I've heard a lot of stuff like that about the reactors. Nothing like that has ever happened to the Midgar reactors though. You'd think the chances would be a lot better here then anywhere else considering there are eight of the things in the city."

"Mmm." Cloud acknowledged. "I wondered about that too, do you think it's because there's more security in Midgar?"

"Could be possible, there isn't really anybody at the reactors in the smaller towns."

Cloud leaned against the Turks chest and listened to the rumble of his voice as Reno continued to talk, musing on about the reactors and their security levels when he suddenly saw a shadow quickly dance across the wall of the tent. Reno must not have seen it considering he continued to jabber on without as much as a pause. He didn't move, he didn't dare to breathe instead he kept himself perfectly still as he started at the nylon wall praying that what he had just seen was the trick of his eye and not some creature waiting to eat the two up. Alas, such a thing wasn't possible the shadow returned and this time stayed there, the form of two very not human legs. The soft cry, something not from human lungs, caught Reno's attention.

"What was that?" He asked also looking at the shadow.

"There's something outside." Cloud watched the shadow legs move around the tent, we heard that footsteps moving closer to the entrance.

"Go have a look see." Reno urged.

Cloud gave him a panicked look. "What?!"

"That's why you're here right? Go see if they're back."

"But that's not a human out there!" Cloud heard his voice crack.

"No duh, it's a chocobo. Might just be a wild one though."

Cloud felt relief wash over him. Not that a wild chocobo wasn't something that wouldn't harm him he would prefer to face one of those rather then some wild monster with three foot fangs. He nodded, and moved to the tents entrance.

He poked a head out to take a cautious look around when a voice addressed him. "You must be Cloud."

"A-ah!" There in front of the tent was a scruffy looking farmer sitting atop a yellow chocobo.

"Wark."

"Hee Hee." The Farmer chuckled. "Not to worry. I was sent by your friends, ran into one of them not too far from here." Cloud poked his head back into the tent to signal to Reno that everything was all right, forgetting that he probably had heard everything that had just been said through the tent wall.

"Thank you." Cloud offered, so glad to have been found by someone.

"Boy sure looks like you fellows went through a hard one. That's why I don't trust those thingers to move me around; I'll stick to my own legs thank you very much." After and indignant squawk from the chocobo the farmer added to his statement. "Oh and Vince's legs here too of course."

Cloud wasn't sure what to think of this strange man in front of him, but anything was better then the stuck up military officials of the Shinra corporation. "Um... yeah." He wasn't sure what to say in response to the strange chocobo man.

"Oh how rude of me." He said as he slid off of the chocobo's back. "I didn't tell you who I am. The name's Wayne this here is Vince, he's my chocobo. Oh and over there is my son Tony."

Cloud looked to where Wayne was pointing. "O-oh!" He hadn't seen it before but sitting just to the left of the tent was a chocobo driven cart with a smiling boy, who looked to be a few years older then Cloud. "Hi." Cloud tried lamely.

A voice from inside the tent snapped Cloud out of his shock. "What's going on Cloud?"

"Oh Reno!" He went back into the tent to help the Turk out to the entrance. "Uh, hey. This is Reno." Cloud said once he had poked his head out again.

"Nice to meet ya." Wayne said grinning. "I take it you're the one needing our help."

"Yeah that would be me." Reno said as he leaned onto Cloud.

"Tony get over here and help us out." Wayne bellowed.

The cart was moved Closer and Cloud and Tony helped a hobbling Reno up into the back of the Cart while Wayne held the chocobo's in place. Cloud took everything out of the tent and loaded everything into the cart, opting to leave the tent standing where it was considering that it had a few little tears along the seams. He couldn't remember a time he was happier to be bumping along a dirt road as he did then.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

They moved right past Midgar, there was no point in trying to get into the city since without a key they were blocked out. Instead, they were informed that they would be stopping at a little town called Kalm. Cloud knew of the place, having been told of it in class. It was the one he had been thinking about earlier, located South of the big city. Wayne informed him that it was on their way anyway. Wayne and Reno chattered on explaining each of their situations and how they had gotten to be where they were in the first place. Wayne explained that he and his son had been up north looking for new chocobo's to add to their farm stead since they had hit a rough patch when several of their chocobo's had turned up missing one morning.

"Who do you think took them?" Cloud asked from his seat near the back of the cart.

"Took them?" Wayne seemed to think that statement over. Tony gave Cloud an incredulous look, as if he was insane or something. "Why would someone want to take some Chocobos?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Reno sounded like it made sense to him. "Shinra wouldn't not with the technology at their hands but, someone from some of the smaller towns might have... or..."

"Or?" Tony asked curiously.

"Or Wutei could have gotten them." Reno finished.

"What would the Government want with chocobo's?" Wayne laughed as if it was the funniest thing he had heard of.

"What would they want with a harp that can put a forest to sleep?" Reno tried.

"What are you talking about now?" Wayne asked still laughing.

"Never mind it's hard to explain." Reno said turning his attention up to the Cloudy sky.

"You boys sure are strange." Tony said quietly from his perch on the edge of the cart.

"I've seen worse." Cloud said equally quietly, thinking back to the forest his hand moving to his pocket where the shells remained. "I was eaten by a forest." He added for good measure.

"You were eaten by a forest?" Tony asked wide-eyed. "But they don't have mouths."

Reno laughed, ignoring the dirty look Cloud shot him. "I'd ignore whatever the kid says he's mad from hunger."

"Goodness have you two been out there that long?" Wayne exclaimed suddenly.

"No, I've just had a rough couple of days." Cloud explained.

"Well I'd imagine that crash there isn't helping you out then."

Reno rolled his eyes, Cloud spotted it. "No that certainly wasn't a walk through the daisy field there."

"There she is." Wayne suddenly cried out pointing to a clump of buildings in the distance.

Cloud leaned over the side of the cart excited to finally see signs of civilization. Nothing looked better to him at the moment. "That's really it? For real?" Excitement creeping into his voice.

Wayne laughed sharply. "Well it ain't no mirage that's for sure."

Cloud couldn't keep the smile from his face as he saw the German inspired rooftops grow larger and larger. His stomach seemed to be equally excited about it as it rumbled at the same instant. Seeing as how he had thrown up the only meal he had in days, he wondered why it had been so quiet up to this point. "Are Zack and Rude already here?"

"Yeah." Tony answered. "My wife Jay took them there with our other Chocobo's when we had found the second one."

Cloud swivelled his head to look at Reno. "So do you think they might already have a meal ready for us?"

"Is that all you talk about kid? Food?" Reno laughed whole-heartedly, Cloud could see that he was happy to be near civilization as well.

"Well it's not like I just ate." Cloud rolled his eyes.

"How long have you two been waiting out there?" Tony questioned.

Reno answered. "Not long, a few hours."

"Feels like longer when there isn't anything to do then just sit there." Cloud added. "I still can't believe they let us sit there so long without an answer. 'An hour tops Cloud, then we'll turn back and report back to you.' Yeah right." He imitated.

"Give 'em an indian burn for making you two wait for so long." Wayne said from the front of the cart, needing to give his two cents into the conversation.

"Jay was supposed to set up a hotel room for all of you. You'll be able to get something to eat at the Inn, they have good food there." Tony said giving Cloud some information that he actually cared about.

"I can't wait." Cloud said, mouth already watering. "Anything would be good right now; I'm just tired of feeling hungry all the time."

"Why didn't you eat any of the rations that were in the helicopter?" Reno asked, giving him a grin from his seat.

"T-there are rations in the chopper?!" Clouds head reeled he'd been so hungry for so long. "Why didn't you tell me?!" He launched himself at the Turk, fully intending to get another good swat in on his injured leg before Tony or Wayne could restrain him. He was stopped when he could suddenly hear music drifting over the distance. "What's going on?" He asked looking back toward the buildings, closer then ever.

"Oh I had forgotten about that." Wayne said smiling back at Cloud.

"About what?" Cloud questioned.

"Every year the folks in Kalm throw a festival. Looks like you might just be able to get some food in your belly sooner then you though. I'm sure they've got tables set up in the main square just teaming with all the eats you could want."

"Really?" Reno leaned forward trying to get a better look at the approaching town from his spot on the cart floor.

"Sounds like I'm not the only one that's hungry." Cloud laughed.

"Shut up." Reno retorted.

"Don't worry boys, there'll be more food then you can handle there." Tony said urging Reno to lean back again.

Cloud ignored the smug look Reno gave him, the type a youngster might give to their sibling once they had been proven right. He turned his attention to the buildings as the rode into them. He could see people in bright colours dancing in the streets waving at them as they passed. Music thrived all around them, different bands playing different songs mixing and mingling together to create a happy joyous hootenanny around them. His heart thudded in his chest with exhilaration, and best of all the smell of cooked foods approaching his nose. Oh, he would have to be sure to thank these people of Kalm and their festival. Whoever thought that this was a good idea surely must have gone down in history.

The cart turned one last corner when they came upon what Cloud guessed must have been the main square. There were shops that lined the whole thing with a structure set up in the middle, he couldn't tell what it was since it was currently decked out in plastic ribbons and streamers that ran out to the rooftops all around them. Surely, enough just like he was promised there were tables and tables set up with a feast ready for all. He spotted Zack waving at them, a grin across his face not far from one of the tables. He pointed to a full plate that he was holding, surely just to tease Cloud. Yes, this was a great thing for sure, now he really didn't want to go back to the Shinra building. Who needed that when there was a festival, just ready and waiting for them to partake in.

He leaped from the cart leaving Reno to Rude's capable hands and raced over to the table nearest to him. He was tempted to forget a plate, just stand there, and eat directly from the serving trays. Though the first step in thanking his hosts (the lovely residents of Kalm) was to act politely. Zack laughed at him as he piled as much onto his plate as he could filling it with whatever he could reach and whatever smelled good, which was pretty much everything. He didn't care if there were dishes there he had never seen nor hear of before as long as they ended up in his stomach he could care less.

"Careful you don't choke now." Zack said still laughing as he watched Cloud dig into his plate with gusto.

"I'm going to have seconds." Cloud informed, not caring that he had barely started on his first serving.

"I'm sure you will. You're not mad at me for not coming back are you?"

Cloud shook his head, as he swallowed his latest mouthful. "If Vince the chocobo hadn't shown up, maybe."

Zack laughed. "He's quite a character hey? I guess the world really is full of them."

Cloud never responded, more interested in filling his gullet then conversation. They stayed together joined later by the two Turks well into the night, all of them sat together and watched the fireworks light up the sky. A dance of light and fire that reminded all of them that they would be returning to Midgar the following day.

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Author Notes: Oh my goodness I'm so late in updating this. I'm so sorry guys. Life can get pretty crazy sometimes, I won't go into that though. So yes, thank you everyone for the reviews and support. It just makes me want to write and write some more.

Remember to leave a review it believe it or not they do spur me on to write more faster. If you don't... I'll make Reno's leg get all infected and he'll be a onelegged hobo for the rest of his life. Bwahahaha.


	4. Chapter 3

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: Strong Language, Violence, Character Death, and more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, or any of it's characters. All of that belongs to it's owners Square-Enix.

Chapter Three

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In time, they made it back to the Shinra building. This time without a hitch, Rude had sent word ahead and a second helicopter came and collected them from their position at Kalm. Cloud couldn't remember ever being so grateful to see all his old chums and bullies, there being more bullies then friends. He settled right back into his shared room, casting a happy look at his roommate's empty bed. They had arrived late morning, in fact it was nearly time for lunch call in the mess hall. Cloud would have himself a well-deserved meal, one he was sure he'd never be ungrateful for again, and then he would report in for debriefing. Nervous butterflies were fluttering in his belly; he wasn't entirely sure what he would report. They never did have a clear conversation the Turks, SOLDIER, and him on what they would include and what they wouldn't. He hoped that he wouldn't be thrown out for impeding a mission.

He started as he heard the door buzz, the locks releasing letting someone in with the right key card. In marched his roommate, someone he lived with but barely knew. A youth by the name Polaris. Poe had never been unkind toward Cloud but he never went out of his way to help the boy either. Cloud was less then overjoyed at seeing his return, and any semblance of a good mood quickly vanished.

"Hey Cloud, you're finally back." He observed, smiling briefly. Clouds sour mood sucking any happiness out of the air.

"Yeah I guess."

"So how was the punishment?" Polaris certainly was trying his best to keep up a happy attitude.

"It sucked." Cloud turned his back to his roommate, not really wanting to carry out a conversation now.

Yet he still heard the other boys gloomy response. "That sucks then I guess."

Cloud had already unpacked his bags and reset his photo's on the lone shelf by his bed. That was where he usually kept them and usually looking into the two smiling faces of the only women in his life he had ever considered himself close with did nothing to alleviate his mood. After all, even though he had brought the photos with him they had done nothing to improve any of the situations he had been placed in. They had let him down. No he was just being stupid they were just pictures they couldn't help him, there wasn't anything Tifa or his mother could do for him. Both were too far away to even talk to him. He had tried sending Tifa letters but he had never received a response, his mother wrote seldom and neither of them understood how much suffering he was going through in the city. Scowling with disgust and their inability to help and his own stupidity on putting so much emotion and trust in a couple scraps of paper. He took the pictures off the shelf and hid them in the bottom most drawer on his chest of drawers, Shinra issue of course.

His perfect moment he had always dreamed of with Tifa was gone, stolen by a SOLDIER male. He hated himself for it. He had always wanted, longed for that perfect moment with Tifa the most beautiful girl in Nibelheim. Never a flawed version with an older male. He grew angry with himself, hating Zack at the same time. Why hadn't he pulled away? Why had he let it happen? What was wrong with him? He wasn't sure, when Polaris had started to try to get his attention but a firm hand on his shoulder made him jump. He spun around and scowled his displeasure at his roommate.

"What?" He demanded.

"I was just wondering if you were going to head down to the mess hall."

"O-oh." Cloud tried his best to calm down his beating heart, he had forgotten the time. "Right, I'll be right down."

"Okay see you there."

Finally, Cloud was alone in his room again. He sat on his bed, low to the ground with only a mattress suspended on a spring coil cot. It was silent and he wasn't very fond of that, part of him wished that the red headed Turk was here to fill that silence. If there was one thing that the Turk was good at was filling silence, he certainly wasn't a very good pilot. His stomach was what brought his attention back to the present, reminding him that he had an appointment to keep at a meal to eat. He gave one last irritable look at the drawer now hiding the photos and left the room.

In the mess hall, he had gotten his usual helping of the junk they called food there and looking for a place suitable to sit. He avoided those who he fought with in the hallways, the last thing he needed right now was another fight; he walked past the table Polaris was sitting at ignoring the waves the boy was sending him. Instead he chose a table along the far wall, it was nearly empty with only a few other lonely occupants. The last thing he needed right now was a conversation.

The slop that they called food here was certainly better then nothing, but didn't nearly stand a chance to the meal he had in Kalm. As he ate, he pretended that it was another Kalm steak he was digging into. That did little to improve the taste. In his mind, he was running over the story that he would tell Captain Williams. He and Zack got lost in the forest, looking for anything that would give them a further idea on what the object could be when they wandered in too far and couldn't find their way out again. The Turks had waited just long enough for them to find there way out and that was the initial reason for being late. Luckily, he didn't really need to obscure any facts about the helicopter crash and that would further explain why they were so late returning.

He poked at his tray, wishing absently that he was in class right now rather then waiting to make his statement. The clock on the other side of the mess hall ticked away, it currently said quarter to one in the afternoon. He only had a few minutes before he had to be at Captain Williams's office. He gave up on the last of his daily gruel and deposited his tray back at the front of the large hall and left to face the Captain.

Captain Williams held a certain dislike for Cloud and the private was sure that he would be further punished for the delay of the mission. He was sure that Williams would find some way to blame it on Cloud, and honestly, Cloud felt that it was his fault anyway. He just didn't want to have to scrub every latrine in the building, that being his least favourite assignment he had ever been given. He made his way through the hallways easily, having made the trek to the Captains office several times before. His roommate often joked that Cloud spent more time there then he did in his own room. The brass nameplate attached to the wall was aged having been graffiti overed and cleaned many times before still boasted the name Williams. Cloud gave it a dirty look wishing that it was instead the Captain himself, and knocked on the door.

The door opened at the Captain was standing there looking down at Cloud with a contemptuous look on his face. "You're late Private Strife."

"I'm not!" Cloud wasn't sure why he retorted as such, knowing that there would be a consequence for that.

"I assure you private that it is two minutes past by my watch." Williams sneered down at him.

Cloud figured that he was already off to a bad start why not roll with it. "And I assure you Captain that I'm early by every other clock in this building, how you set your watch is of no concern to me."

"I hope you don't think you'll get away with such words. Once we're done with your statement I'll talk to you about what I expect done."

Cloud wondered that if he were to write the truth about the forest if they would throw him out on the pretences of him being mentally unstable.

"Have a seat." The Captain gestured to a plastic chair on the other side of the desk that Williams had just sat down at.

Cloud noticed that the usual leather chair that sat there and in every other officers office was replaced with a plastic excuse for a seat. Never the less Cloud sat without a word.

The Captain slid a piece of empty paper toward Cloud across the desk and placed a ballpoint pen on top of the paper. "Well get to it." He said to Cloud then leaned back in his seat.

"Yes sir." Cloud gritted out through clenched teeth.

He barely had time to set the pen to the paper when the door was thrown open. It struck the wall, most likely leaving a dent, Cloud jumped violently and succeeded in leaving a line of ink across the page.

Standing there panting slightly, leaning heavily on a pair of crutches was Reno the Turk.

"Reno, what the hell are you doing?" Williams said as he stood angrily behind his desk.

"The General sent me to retrieve Private Strife." Reno said after stopping to catch his breath, he sounded like he had ran the whole way here, most likely encumbered by his crutches.

"Strife has an appointment with me right now; the General will have to wait."

Could the Captain be serious? Didn't the General's orders overrule anyone else's?

"Sorry he's requested to see him immediately." Reno said, crossing the room and lifting Cloud from his seat by one arm. "What happened to your chair?" Reno asked curiously once he had Cloud up off it.

"None of your business. Strife has a statement to make and I expect him back here as soon as the General is done with him." Williams said as he leaned over his desk, grabbing the ink stained paper that Cloud was supposed to fill out.

"You don't have to worry about that Major Fair has already filled one out and that will do." Reno explained as he led Cloud out of the room and slammed the door closed behind him.

"Reno? What's going on?" Cloud asked, when Reno finally let go of his arm.

"I'm breaking you out." Reno explained hobbling down the hallway in the opposite direction of the Generals office.

"B-but you said that General Sephiroth wanted to see me." Cloud stammered.

"Well I had to say something to get you out of there."

"B-but what about my statement?"

"Don't worry about it, Zack wrote one and that'll be enough. We want to have as little variation in the story as possible. Just to make sure." Reno explained as he led Cloud down unfamiliar hallways

"Where are we going anyway?" Cloud questioned, still relentlessly following Reno.

"Into Turk Head Quarters."

True enough one elevator ride and several turns later the usual metal walls suddenly were lined with wood, giving it a rich lived in look. Cloud had never been in this area of the building and never up this high, with the exception of the time he had to meet the General. "This is the Turks area?"

"Yep. We're going past some offices right now, that one's Tsengs." He pointed at a wooden door as they walked past. "I report to him."

"What are we doing here?"

"Just going to pick up Rude, he should be done with his duties today." Reno stopped at another wooden door. Cloud couldn't figure out why this area was made with wood rather then the metal that every other hallway and room was made out of. He was glad he was going to see Rude again as well. He looked at the Turks as friends now, whether the feelings were returned he wasn't sure.

Reno knocked firmly upon the door, Cloud was surprised to hear a metallic ring rather then a deep rap. Apparently, the walls were only made to look like wood. The door slid open on its own accord and Cloud followed Reno in. Inside the surprisingly small room was a fair sized table with six chairs even spaced around it. Rude was standing at the far end of the room next to another Turk, who left when he saw Reno enter the room. He also gave Cloud a confused look as he walked past him and out into the hallway. Obviously, this was not a place cadet's usually spent time in.

"Hey." Reno greeted casually. "Wanna get some lunch?"

Rude nodded his agreement and moved to follow them out of the room.

"Cloud your coming with right?" Reno asked as he looked down at the shorter cadet.

"Well... I just ate in the mess hall." Cloud reasoned, he really had after all.

"You can't call that junk lunch. Particularly after that feast at Kalm, I'm thinking that if it were possible I'd go back every day." Reno laughed out.

Rude shook his head at his partners antics. "I think a restaurant in the city will be fine Reno."

Cloud followed along silently, as they climbed into another elevator and took that to the bottom floor to exit out the main lobby as they had done days previous. They didn't make it very far however as they were interrupted by a strong voice.

"Turks!"

Cloud paused and looked over his shoulder and saw another figure that was well known around the Shinra building. Colonel Cormick, a tall imposing man with a receding hairline.

"Yo Colonel what's up?" Reno asked casually as he leaned against one of his crutches.

Rude said nothing and Cloud remained there unmoving, The Colonel wasn't nearly as intimidating as the General was but he was still a man in a much higher position then Cloud, he still looked as if he could crush Cloud with minimal effort.

"I was wishing to speak to you two about the mission you just returned from." The Colonel explained as he crossed the distance between the doorway he had been standing in and the spot where Cloud and the Turks stood. "I wish to speak to you as well as the Private and SOLDIER who accompanied you in my office."

"Well that's handy." Rude said softly.

"We just happen to have that cadet with us right now." Reno said placing a hand on Clouds shoulder.

The Colonel looked down at Cloud as if he had just realised that he was standing there. "So then you're Private Strife?"

"Y-yes Sir." Cloud stammered out. He may be defiant of the Captain and lesser non-commissioned officers but he always seemed to freeze when the higher ups spoke to him.

"Good then we just need Major Fair. I've already sent word for him. Please follow me." The Colonel said turning on his heal in a practised military march.

Cloud followed behind walking between Reno and Rude a head shorter then both of them.

Reno must have noticed how stiff Cloud was he leaned over as best he could to comfort the boy. "Ah, don't worry about it Cloud, I'm sure he just wants to ask about what happened."

Cloud nodded stiffly, he didn't want to risk saying anything and attracting the Colonel's attention. The were lead into another elevator, which only went up to a certain floor, the Colonel instructed them off of that elevator and onto a second one that they followed all the way up to another floor Cloud had never set foot on before. Down more spiralling hallways and finally to a large door with seat on either side of it, not dissimilar to General Sephiroth's office. Sitting waiting on one chair already was Zack.

"Ah, Major Fair I see you made it here already." The Colonel said as he greeted Zack.

Zack stood and fell into a chest salute, which the Colonel returned only then did Zack visibly relax. "What is you were needing to speak to me sir? I was pulled out of watch duty."

"I was just hoping to discuss the object from your mission." The Colonel explained as he pulled out a key card to allow them into his office.

Cloud was the last to enter. The inside was neat and organised and was smaller then the Generals office, but much larger then the Captains obviously offices reflected their position in the military. The Colonel moved two extra chairs from outside his office to in front of his desk so that they could all have a seat. Zack indicated to sit next to him and gave him a warm smile; he must have known how uncomfortable Cloud felt. He was surprised to find that Zacks actions did calm his beating heart just a little and made his presence in the office feel like one that was welcomed there.

"Alright boys get comfortable I just need to ask you a few questions." The Colonel started. "I understand you were a few days late reporting back in for debriefing."

"Yes Sir." Zack answered. "I already made a statement about it with the General."

"Yes I have a copy here." He indicated a manila folder sitting innocently on his desk. "Hard to believe such an--- accomplished SOLDIER such as yourself getting lost." He had paused to think of an appropriate word.

"It was my fault Sir." Cloud piped up, as much as he didn't want the Colonel to focus on him.

"Oh?" The Colonel opened the folder and pulled out Zack's statement. "That seems to differ from what the Major has written here."

Cloud didn't miss the look from Reno. He thought quickly to remedy his mistake. "I'm sorry sir. I asked the Major to write that. I was afraid of receiving more punishment for delaying us."

"Is that so?" The Colonel looked at Zack waiting for an answer.

Luckily, Zack quickly went along with it. "Yes Sir, I felt that it was unfair for him to be disciplined. He was only trying to help."

The Colonel nodded as if he saw this was fair. "I don't see it necessary to change anything then." Truly, the Colonel was a fair man.

"Thank you Sir." Zack added.

"Now the object that was dug from the ground." The Colonel said addressing the next part he wanted to discuss.

"Sir?" Rude asked interrupting the Military officer. After all the Turks didn't fall into the Military column, the simple fact that Rude was even addressing the Colonel as Sir was out of respect.

"Yes?" The Colonel didn't look impressed that he was interrupted.

"Strife wasn't actually part of the collection of the object." Rude informed.

"Never the less he was present. Even if he never set eyes on it."

Reno sat forward finally speaking up after remaining quiet for so long. "We were told that he wasn't supposed to be told any of it. He was just there to run errands, he shouldn't be present here."

Cloud wished that he could melt into the back of his chair, that cold feeling that he wasn't supposed to be there returned full force.

"The General requested his presence here. He will remain." Colonel Cormick shot back.

"We were sent there under the Presidents orders-" Reno continued.

"Shut your mouth now." The Colonel gritted out obviously unhappy that he was being interjected by the Turk. "Now as I was saying. We received an analysis from the scientists already. And-"

Reno butt in again. "Already but they just received it this morning."

The Colonel didn't directly acknowledge Reno instead continued with what he was saying before. "After a few simple tests the determined that it was an unusually large piece of Materia, naturally formed by the planet. It's virtually unusable by human hands."

"Materia?" Cloud pondered remembering seeing the materia in the forest; maybe it was the same thing.

"As well, I was informed that the four of you will be moved into a protection program." The Colonel continued.

"A what?" Zack sounded startled, in fact they all were.

"It seems that your presence in Bone Village somehow leaked out. One of the workers arrived just minutes ago, and told us of Wutai officials in the village. They were inquiring about the large Materia."

Cloud sat there in that uncomfortable Shinra issue chair, Wutai had found out about the object and must have wanted to get their hands on it after someone told them that Shinra held some sort of interest in it. But they did they know what it was already?

"The four of you will be moved to another area of Head Quarters, your duties and classes." The Colonel said with a nod of his head toward Cloud. "Will be suspended until the threat has passed."

"Threat?" Reno questioned.

"Yes, it seems that the Wutei government has taken an interest in you four and your knowledge on the object and the forest."

"Why would they want to know about the forest?" Zack asked, suddenly looking at the Colonel with a suspicious light in his eye.

"I don't really know, that forest has befuddled many for generations. It may have something to do with your trek into the forest. To our knowledge you two are the first two to ever come back out again."

Clouds head reeled on his shoulders, how could the Government find out about them so quickly? Who had told them? Could it have been someone he had put his trust in. Images of Cook's and Marshes friendly faces waved through his head. No it couldn't be.

The Colonel stood and gestured to the door. "I will take you to your new quarters personally."

The Turks and Zack stood and exited the room, Cloud however felt frozen to his seat. He had no proof nothing had been said to him to make him feel so uncomfortable, like the looming dread he felt had crept into his bones. A large hand on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. Cloud looked up at the figure how had grasped him and saw into the deep brown irises of Colonel Cormick. He saw nothing there to alarm him. He had always heard that the Colonel could be a soft man, but his rough exterior always had Cloud doubting those stories. Yet now, now that the Colonel had gone out of his way to welcome Cloud and to ease his worries with a simple gesture he could see the truth behind those stories. Silently he nodded his understanding and shakily got out of his chair and moved out into the hallway the Colonel at his side.

For the third time that day Cloud was lead through parts of the Shinra building he had never been to (some parts he had never even heard of before) He marvelled at how big the building actually was. They headed down this time, moving under the lobby and into the buildings basement. The stopped only a few floors underground, and Cloud was lead to wonder how far down the building went.

The hallways in this new area were dark, having been lit by flicking fluorescent tubes suspended from the ceiling. Moving shadows startled Cloud and he jumped pulling Zacks hand toward him to comfort himself in a part of the building that was accompanied by tales of torture and experiments. Cloud caught Zacks eye, and the SOLDIER gave the smaller boy a weak smile to try to reassure him. It didn't work.

The Colonel stopped at a metal door, much like the doors in the above ground floors of the building. Only these doors looked thicker more durable then their counterparts. "Alright boys, this will be you're new home for now." He said as he pulled out a key card to unlock the doors. "I'll ask you not to leave threw these doors unless you're being accompanied. Otherwise you may not be able to return."

He made a motion for them to go into the room, it was dark Cloud noted. They all stood there looking into the basement room, each of the equally unsure of the situation Turks, SOLDIER, and young cadet alike. Zack was the first one to build up the nerve to enter; he pulled Cloud along with him, still grasping his hand warmly.

Zack flipped on the lights and the Turks followed after. Cloud turned to ask the Colonel a question but was faced with the door sliding shut instead. "Colonel?" He tried weakly anyway.

"What the hell?" Reno said turning around sharply when he heard the door shut.

"The door closed." Rude observed.

"A malfunction?" Zack guessed.

"Whatever it is I want some answers before Cormick leaves." Reno said reaching out to the control panel.

Cloud stared at the crack where the door met the wall, willing it to open.

"The fucking asshole!" Reno said sharply, as several impeding chimes and beeps from the doors controls met him.

"We're locked in." Rude observed again.

Cloud wasn't sure of the others reaction. He felt his face drain of any blood and that sense of dread returned ten fold. He panicked, he knew that he panicked but that didn't stop him from throwing himself at the door crying for it to open. It didn't stop him from beating on the cold metal until his hands were sore. It didn't stop him from falling to the ground in a defeated crumple, and no one else stopped him as well. Perhaps that was what they wanted to do it themselves, maybe they were glad Cloud was the one to do it, to show his weakness, to sob like the fifteen-year-old boy he was.

Rude was the one to finally pull Cloud to his feet and to dust him off. The Turk held his shoulders until his shuddering had ceased. Weakly he looked up at Zack and Reno, neither of them looked much better then he felt. Zack's eyes looked shadowed and Reno was leaning heavier on his crutches then he had been earlier.

Rudes soft voice broke the silence. "Let's see what we have to work with."

Zack nodded

Reno shook his head. "No way, I'm tired I'm sitting here and staying here for a little while."

He hobbled over to a worn sofa one of two identical couches that each sat on a wall adjacent to each other. Cloud looked about the room, the lights were brighter in here then in the hallway and thankfully, none of them had that flicker. Everything was a dull grey or brown, and one crooked painting hung on the wall. The smiling face of some foreign girl gracing its canvas. Cloud took to an instant dislike of that painting, the smile he seemed to think was directed at him, that she was amused by their predicament. Cloud followed along after Zack into the small dingy kitchen. They found that there was food in the fridge and boxes of cereals and grains in the small cupboards. Down the only hallway was a small washroom and two bedrooms. The doors faced each other and each identical room held a double bed and a bureau both of them empty. No sign of any windows or other doors. Escape from this strange room seemed very unlikely.

Was Shinra really keeping them down here because of Wutei, or did they want them out of the way for the time being?

Cloud shivered and backed away from on of the bureaus. He felt really uncertain down here away from the sunlight. They were locked away like prisoners.

"Damn they couldn't even give us a TV." Zack complained from behind Cloud. "Wanna bunk with me Cloud?"

"I guess." He said as he looked around the empty walls.

"Cool." How could Zack sound so chipper in these conditions?

They exited the room and sat on the stained sofas. Cloud sat next to Rude and fought the urge to cry for his mother, never had he wanted to go home as much as he did right now.

"I can't believe they're keeping an injured man in conditions like this." Reno muttered.

"I don't understand any of this." Zack said next to Rude.

"Do you think that anyone knows we're down here?" Cloud pondered, a sudden wave of panic washing over him again. What if they were forgotten about?

"I just wonder if the president knows about it." Rude pondered.

"Eh, we won't be down here for too long I bet you." Zack scoffed.

"What makes you so sure?" Reno said sourly from his seat.

"I just have a feeling, they'll probably make us stay one night and they'll come get us tomorrow morning, we'll talk shit over with whomever from Wutei. Who wants a big piece of Materia that's unusable?"

"The Colonel never said that it was unusable." Cloud pointed out. "Only that it was virtually unusable by human hands."

"That's the same think spike." Zack argued.

"No it's not." Rude added. "They might find another way of using it, machines..."

"Imagine how much power something like that would have..." Reno mused. "If they found more, Shinra wouldn't stand a chance."

Cloud feeling of dread only increased from that moment on, and a week later they were still stuck down in that room."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Time passed slowly there in the basement; occasionally officers stopping by to resupply them would break the dull nothingness. Clean clothing was brought down as well as some fresh stocks for their small kitchen. A medic would stop in every so often to keep an eye on Reno's leg, every time he reassured him that it was fine and healing well. Yet nothing eased the boredom, they had started off by swapping stories but that had grown dull once everyone started to repeat themselves. It was nighttime, or so they thought it was hard to keep track of time in the dark room. Each retiring to their room.

"I think I may go insane." Cloud stated staring up at the ceiling. He wasn't really tired.

"How long do you think you'll last?" Zack asked from his spot next to the blonde on the bed.

"Why what does it matter?"

"We're taking bets on who'll crack first." Zack quipped as he sat up, tired of looking at that ceiling. "How can they keep us down here like criminals?"

"I think you've said that before."

"Oh I know I have."

They remained there in silence for a while, Cloud staring at the ceiling willing a hole to open. Zack attempting to burn a hole though the wall. 'I'm so fucking tired of this' the same thought was mirrored in all of their heads.

"Next time they stop with supplies I'm going to ask for music, or a board game." Zack pointed out.

"You think they'll give us them?"

"Who fucking knows, they'll probably find some reason not to. Oh no they're infested with Wutai bugs trying to hack secrets out of us." Zack fell back onto the bed in frustration pulling Cloud close to him for comfort.

They had asked for forms of entertainment before and each time their request had been brushed off. Cloud was beginning to think that they really were being punished for something. "Do you think we did anything wrong when we were in bone village?"

"Yeah we went."

"Not funny Zack."

"I wish we were back in the forest."

"At least there was more to do there." Cloud agreed it would be nice to go back there.

"How do you think that the Government found out about us being there?" Zack questioned.

Cloud shrugged. "Someone must have turned us in."

"Feel tired yet?"

"I don't know anymore."

Cloud laid there with Zacks arms around him, something he had learned early on that the older man was fond of doing. It had disturbed him at first, but quickly he had learned that it was more of a comfort then anything else. Yet every time he did it, flashes of that kiss in the forest would pass through his vision.

"Did you just hear the door release?" Zack asked, suddenly drawing away from Cloud.

"No."

"Come on." Zack pulled Cloud to his feet and they both went to investigate.

The Turks door was shut tight, they must be asleep. Once in the main room they saw that indeed the door had been released and standing there was a Shinra officer and a worn looking figure behind him. The officer made eye contact with the two and motioned the other figure into the room. Cloud was shocked, when he noticed who that other person was.

"Marsh?"

"Heya Cloud." Marsh said with a weak wave.

The officer stopped Marsh before he could continue. "I will return for you in an hour."

Marsh nodded and the Officer turned locking the door behind him as he left.

"What are you doing here? What happened to you?" Questions began to pour out of Clouds mouth.

"I'll tell ya bu' first I think all of ya shou' be here." Marsh said taking a seat on one of the dull sofas.

"I'll go get them Cloud." Zack said indicating that Cloud should take a seat as well.

Cloud nodded and sat on the other couch, looking Marsh over awkwardly. He looked like he had been through hell. His cheerful smile that was normally plastered to his face was gone, replaced with a worn looking frown. Dark circles lay under his eyes, and the sparkle of life was missing from his eyes. Black and blue bruises scattered across his face arms and it looked like they extended down onto his chest as well. He wore a simple garb, embellished only with the Shinra logo.

"You look awful." Cloud pointed out.

"A' leas' I feel betta then when I got 'ere. Spent las' week in da medical ward with some o' the other guys who got away."

"Got away from what?" Reno said coming down the hallway, his leg had improved somewhat and he was only using one crutch now.

"The Government." Marsh looked down at his hands, dry and cracked.

"How did they find out about the Materia?" Zack asked taking a spot next to Marsh.

"Materia? Was tha' what it was?"

"Yep, just a big hunk that probably was tossed up by the planet." Reno clarified. "We thought that's what it was, I'm sure everyone thought the same thing."

"Large Materia." Rude added quietly.

"I guess, now tha' ya say it." Marsh said still looking adamantly at his hands clasped together in his lap.

"So they came looking for it then?" Rude prodded for more information.

"No they knew it was gone, 'e told them ya took it. They came t' find out who took it, they wanted yer names." Marsh continued.

"Who told them?" Cloud asked, leaning forward in his seat. Had it been someone he knew?

Marsh started to shake in his seat. "They musta threatened him. Such awful things they know. Cook, he- he-"

"Cook told them!" Cloud felt disheartened. It hadn't only been someone he knew, it was someone he trusted, someone he thought was a friend.

"I can' imagine how bad he musta felt." Marsh muttered to his hands.

"Bull shit." Reno suddenly burst out. "That fucker knew what he was doing. He never liked us being there."

"Don't Reno." Cloud warned, jumping to his feet. Wutei must have weaseled that information from him, they must have he wouldn't believe otherwise. "Don't even start to say such awful things."

Reno struggled up onto his feet, ignoring his crutch completely. "Don't defend him Cloud; you weren't around him as often as the rest of us. He was there when we were discussing the Materia giving him our theories on it; he knew we took it with us. Believe me Cloud he wasn't happy that it went with us!"

"No Cook was a good man; he showed me nothing but kindness." Cloud argued back, part of him felt bad for arguing in front of Marsh like this, but it didn't stop him. "He tried his best to explain things to me, he did everything he could to help me fit in better to do my jobs better." Cook was a good man he had to be.

"You're young Cloud. How do you know he wasn't trying to get you to join over to the Government? I bet you if we had stayed any longer we woulda got knifed in the back and you'd be suddenly offered a wonderful position in the Wutai army."

"Don't Reno Don't!" Cloud did everything he could to keep his arms down at his sides and not to throw himself at the injured Turk.

Zack released him from that worry. He reached out and pulled him back down on the couch. Holding him down with strong arms. "It's not the time to fight Cloud."

"He's saying such awful things about Cook!" Cloud defended.

"He has a point Cloud. He acted differently around you."

Did Zack just agree with Reno?

"Wha? No Zack no he was."

"He turned ya all in, everyone. He told me 'fore you arrived. He didn't trust Shinra." Marsh added, further condemning the girthy man Cloud had grown affection for.

"I- I-" He couldn't get the words out; they caught on that lump in his throat. The world around him grew fuzzy and he could feel the tears coming. Instead, he just threw himself into Zacks chest. It couldn't be true. He cried it out, everything. The hurt from the betrayal of his trust, the pent up frustration from being locked in a basement for a week, he missed his mother, and Tifa and he wanted to go home, to see the sun, to have someone else to comfort him then the large SOLDIER male. He cried until there was nothing left to cry and Marsh's hour had passed.

Reno and Rude had left the two alone and returned back into their bedroom. Cloud was still curled up in Zacks arms, now feeling heavy and empty.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" Zack asked quietly. "Surely you didn't care about him that much."

"Once I started I couldn't stop." Cloud explained, his voice barely more then a whisper. "I thought about my Mom, and Tifa."

"You miss them?"

Cloud nodded.

"Yeah I miss some people too."

Cloud looked up. Curious now Zack hardly ever spoke about the people in his life. "Who?"

"My family, they're in Gongaga. My sorta girlfriend I guess."

Girlfriend? Cloud wasn't expecting that. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Sorta." Zack smiled a little, probably thinking about her cute face and her nice smell or something like that Cloud thought. "We went on a couple of dates months ago."

"Why haven't you seen her recently?"

"Well you know there was that incident where I got lost in a forest and I'm kinda tied up right now."

Cloud playfully smacked at his arm. "You know what I mean."

"Honestly... I don't know. She's a nice girl, really pretty, soft spoken. She sells flowers." Zack went on. Cloud thought she sounded like she deserved better.

"So what's someone like that doing with someone like you? She lower her standards or something?"

"Was that a joke spike?" Zack laughed a bit. "I guess you're feeling better then."

"Remember when the Colonel told us that if we got out of the room we probably wouldn't be able to get back in?"

"Yeah what about it spike?" Zack suddenly shifted lying across forcing Cloud to balance on top of him uncomfortably.

"What make him think that we would want to come back in?"

Zack laughed whole-heartedly, Cloud bounced along with his chest. "Like we'll get out anytime soon Cloud."

Cloud smiled and gave up trying to keep some distance between himself and Zack and leaned down onto the SOLDIERs body. "Just wishing I think."

"Wanna go to bed?" Zack asked as he hugged Cloud into place.

"You know that's it only really early evening." Cloud pointed out. Marsh had informed them of the time before he had left.

"Does that really matter? Those Turks are already back to bed."

"Well I guess I'd at least have a little more space on the bed then the couch." Cloud said indicating the arms wrapped around him.

Part of Clouds mind was probably wondering why he was allowing himself this much contact with the SOLDIER. Their legs were entwined, chests pressed together, and Clouds own arms had managed to find away around Zack's shoulders. The other part of his mind didn't care, and most obviously welcomed the close proximity.

On the bed they ended up crammed together as close as they had been on the couch.

"Okay let me get this straight." Zack started his arms still wrapped around Cloud. "For some strange reason you placed your trust in Cook. Even though you only knew him for about a week."

Cloud nodded.

"Now that you learned that he turned us over so quickly, you're emotionally crippled and you'll never be able to trust another human being again."

Cloud didn't say anything; he just felt a chill pass over him. Like Zacks, words could actually have merit behind them. No, he couldn't start thinking like that. "No, there will always be people to trust."

"Like who? Me?" Zack asked softly.

Cloud nodded. "People like the President, and the General. If we can't trust them what has the world come to?"

"You've got a point there spike."

"Thanks." Yet even though he knew that, there were strong figures out there. People to turn to. Yet he couldn't shake that feeling.

Zack shifted and leaned over Cloud. "You're going to be alright aren't you?"

He nodded, and then Zack leaned forward and brought his lips to Clouds. Cloud had wondered if he would try that again, he had thought about it a lot he knew what he was going to do as well. He would push Zack away, but he didn't. The action and the feeling of Zacks lips moving on his own somehow eased all his worries away. They melted together and he was blissfully unaware of the things that had been haunting him this past week. His brain caught up to him after he had responded. He found himself with his arms wrapped around Zacks neck, his hands buried in his dark locks, and he no longer cared if Zack was a guy or a girl. Lips were lips right? He thought he might mind when Zack moved closer pressing his chest against Clouds, or when he moved one leg between Clouds own but he didn't. He gasped lightly when he felt a knee brush lightly against his groin. Zack took advantage of that and plunged his tongue into the cavity of Clouds mouth.

Part of Clouds mind had to remind him that he had earlier convinced himself that this was wrong and that he shouldn't hold feelings for the SOLDIER. That didn't stop him however; something that felt this good couldn't be wrong, right? If this, what they were doing, was so wrong shouldn't something be pulling them apart, something should stop Zacks hand from trailing his hand across Clouds chest. Yet nothing did.

Zack had started by pushing one hand under the uniform shirt Cloud was clad with, slowly moving it up moulding his palm to the crevices of Clouds boyish chest. Pausing to play with each pink nub before moving his hand back down south. Cloud felt his skin burn, he was sure he was flushed from head to toe as he lay there kissing Zack. He didn't have the courage Zack had; he couldn't bring himself to move his hands away from his mane of hair. Though he was able to push him away when one of Zacks hands strayed too far.

"Zack!" Cloud burst out with affronted that the SOLDIER had gone so far as to actually grope him below the belt.

"Sorry! I got carried away." At least he had the decency to apologize.

Cloud hurriedly shuffled off the bed, taking a pillow with him. "I'm going to sleep on the couch." He informed Zack.

"No, please Cloud you don't-" His words were cut off.

"It's okay."

He hurried out of the room, closing the door securely behind him. His stomach turned flip-flops as he made his way to the nearest sofa and made camp. There were no extra blankets so he would have to do without one. Thankfully, it was warm underground. He stretched out and buried his head into the fluffy pillow. His heart felt like it was trying to free itself from his chest. He had never intended for that to happen, but yet now that it had. He couldn't say that he hated it or Zack for that matter. He wished that the couch would just eat him on the spot he didn't like the confusion that Zack was causing. He thought he knew who he was and what he liked. He sighed as he looked out into the dark empty room, knowing that sleep would not come easily tonight.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Rude was the first one awake the next morning. He spotted Cloud sleeping soundly on the couch and noted that he looked like he needed it, and went about making coffee for the day. Reno shuffled down the hallway half asleep, with dark circles under his eyes. It was probably the smell of the coffee that brought him back to the land of the living.

"What the fuck is Cloud doing on the couch?" He asked as he accepted a steaming mug from his partner.

Rude just looked over his shoulder at the sleeping blonde and shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."

"I wonder if Zack talks in his sleep too." Reno mused padding over and taking a seat on the empty couch.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me. For someone who doesn't say much you sure talk up a storm in your sleep. You're lucky I haven't smothered you yet."

"I don't talk in my sleep." Rude informed.

"Sure you don't. That's why I know every intimate detail of the day your father left your mother."

Rude didn't respond but shuffled uncomfortably on the spot.

Zack emerging from the hallway broke the uncomfortable silence. "Morning everyone."

"What's Cloud doing sleeping out here?" Reno immediately asked.

"He just wanted to be alone last night." Zack said dismissing the subject and reached for a cup of coffee for himself.

Reno wouldn't let it drop so easily though. "I think that we should switch rooms. Obviously you snore or whatever so bad you drove the kid out here."

"I don't snore!" Zack defended.

"Whatever, you Mr. Snores-a-lot can share with Mr. Talks-to-much and me and the kid will share." Reno reasoned.

"I don't think so." Zack said, laughing as if he thought the idea was hilarious.

"I think it's a good idea." Rude added. "It'll stop everyone from fighting amongst ourselves."

"You think it'll stop fighting?! There is no fighting this'll just cause more." Zack argued.

Reno leaned over to the other couch and shook Cloud awake. "You wanna share a room with me?" He asked Cloud as soon as one sleepy eye opened.

"What?"

"See he's going to share with me." Reno said triumphantly.

Once Cloud was awake enough to realise what was going on he had agreed to the idea and thus Zack was outvoted and spent the next night beside to the bald Turk.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: Hey what do you know this chapter is a little shorter then the other ones. I get tired writing all of that you know. Anyway hope you enjoyed it, drop me a line in a review, let me know what you think yada yada yada. Oh and special plug, anyone into Kingdom Hearts you should go check out a new story. A Collaberated story with my Beta. This first chapter was writen by myself. Theres a link in my bio, if your interested you should go check it out.


	5. Chapter 4

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: Strong Language, Violence, Character Death, and More

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, or any of its characters. All of that belongs to its owners Square-Enix.

Chapter Four

Author Notes: I know I know I'm really late. I'm sorry I'll explain... after the chapter!! Ps. This version has been edited, there is a complete version at there's a link in my bio for it.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Since the room change, Cloud knew that Zack was displeased with him. He didn't really think that there was a reason for him to act the way he was though. After all he was the one that had drove Cloud out that night anyway. Sharing with the Turk wasn't so bad either; at least he provided some entertainment. Yet nothing that any of them did would ease the boredom of the small room, the prison they didn't know they had been sentenced to. Cloud found himself wishing more and more often that he was sitting in class or in basic training with the rest of the cadets. Currently he was stretched out across one of the couches absently wondering if all this time away from his classes would affect his chances in the SOLDIER exams. Tonight was Rudes turn to cook, something to look forward to. They had taken to exchanging chores, everyday they would do something else. Even though their choices of what to cook were very limited they still rotated the schedule. The toilet was scrubbed every day, each day by a new pair of hands. All of them took turns fluffing pillows, dusting shelves, hell they would have vacuumed the floor had they the means for it. It was something they had originally implemented to break up the monotony. So far it wasn't working.

As Cloud laid there he could feel Zacks angry stare. He still hadn't forgiven Cloud for the room exchange. Honestly he had tried his best to ignore the glares sent his way but they really were starting to get under his skin. He wouldn't confront him about it though, no never. Zack was just acting like an immature baby, and Rude was too stoic to provide a conversation deep enough to aid Cloud with his ignoring plan. So he gave up counting ceiling tiles, sat up gave Zack one cursory glance just to confirm that he was still giving Cloud a dirty look. Which without a doubt he was. Without a word, since Zack hadn't spoken to Cloud willingly for three days, and Cloud wasn't trying any harder to do the opposite, he left the room and retreated instead to the bedroom.

Reno was already inside; he had taken to avoiding the SOLDIER since time alone with Zack usually resulted in physical pain. He was stretched out on the bed flipping through the only magazine in the little suite. It was well worn, dog-eared, and read by every one of them multiple times to try and ease the boredom. "Hey" Cloud greeted as he closed the door behind him and took a seat on the bed as well.

"What 'cha doing in here?" Reno asked not looking up from the magazine. "Don't you think crazy SOLDIER man might try and beat us up."

"He's not that bad Reno." Cloud pointed out.

Reno looked over his shoulder at the cadet. "You don't know him like I do."

"And you don't know him like I do. Remember I already had my turn sharing with him. He's upset but not violent."

"Yeah but that was before the kiss."

Cloud froze, how had Reno found out about that?

"What kiss?" He tried lamely.

Reno sat up and smiled knowingly at Cloud. "That's easy." He started with another Cheshire grin. "This kiss."

Cloud sat frozen, that had not been the answer he had been expecting. Naturally his mind didn't catch up to what his body was doing until he was on his back under Reno's weight. Returning the kiss with much enthusiasm. Once his mind had caught up, quite out of breath and very irritated by the situation, everything came to a grinding halt. Aided by the fact that Cloud had thrown Reno off of him and off of the bed entirely.

"What are you doing?!" Cloud insisted.

"What do you think?"

"You can't just do that." Cloud argued. He could just imagine the hell that would break out if Zack did find out about that.

"Why not? I see something I want and I take it." Reno said trying to regain as much dignity as he could while remaining on the floor.

"You can't." Cloud hissed out. He dearly wanted to yell and scream at the Turk. He wanted to turn furniture over and take out a lot of bottled up frustration on his victim, but he knew that would attract Zacks attention to the problem.

"Why not?" Reno paused to thinking about this while Cloud did his best to rage in silence. "...You're not screwing around with the SOLDIER are you? I mean that would explain why he-"

"No!" Cloud said before Reno could express anymore of his theory.

"I think you're lying."

"I'm not."

They were interrupted by a rap on the door. "Dinner's ready." Rude said from the other side.

Cloud was relieved for the excuse to run from the Turk.

"Be there in a sec." Reno replied. "We're not done talking about this." He informed Cloud.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That night was an awkward one. Not between the Cadet and the Turk, nor between the other two in the opposite room. What was awkward was the battle going on inside of Clouds head. He had made a very specific point of sitting next to Rude at dinner and of avoiding the two hot heads the entire night. He would have suggested another room switch, but he didn't want to leave the two alone together all night. His mind was not filled with thoughts of the two killing each other in the night, or of taking their sexual frustrations out on each other, or so he tried to convince himself. It was filled with thoughts of what was wrong with him though. In the past weeks he had found himself transformed from a cadet with not much promise fighting his classmates in the hallways to a prisoner underground kissing everyone willy-nilly. His first kiss had been stolen, much as he reminded himself these days. Not only had he been groped by a man and had secretly liked it, just a little, but now a second had kissed him. Why was this happening to him? He should have just stayed back home and become a tour guide through the mountains.

He rolled over tired of staring at the ceiling and examined the contours of Renos face. He was fast asleep and completely unaware of the debate within Cloud. He knew what his problem was. His mind was the problem; it was never there when he wanted it. Whenever his mind seemed to catch up to him it's already too late to be able to push them away without seeming like he was crazy. He wondered absently if he would have the same problem pushing these males away if there were a few more girls in the company. If any girls would be interested in someone so short and scrawny like Cloud. He sighed in frustration his eyes still roaming over Renos still form. Maybe his real problem wasn't that his mind was distracted but that he actually enjoyed it. After all Zack and Reno weren't necessarily hard on the eyes. He scowled when he caught what he had just thought and rolled over again this time with his back to his roommate.

Did he hate what they did to him? No, he remembered the feeling of Zacks hands moving over his chest and he would have actually liked to be back in that situation. Would it feel the same if Reno was the one doing it? He risked a look over his shoulder at the Turk, still sleeping soundly. What if he actually wanted to be kissed?

He sat up in the near dark, the only light source being a dim night light behind him somewhere. He figured from that vantage point he gets a better look at the Turk, and maybe a clearer thought in his head. The only thing he was sure about was that he wanted to try this, and this time he wanted to be sure about what was going on. So he threw caution to the wind and leaned over the sleeping Turk. Softly he placed a kiss on the still lips and drew back quickly. Reno never moved, Cloud sat holding his breath frightened that he would be caught, nothing happened however. He wasn't sure why but he felt a little disappointed. What could he expect from the sleeping form?

Cloud quickly decided that for this experiment to be a success he would need Reno awake. He leaned close again to try and wake the Turk. "Reno." He started quietly, whispering in the dark. No response. He tried again louder this time, still no response. He started to feel a little irritated so he took the red-head by shoulders and shook him gently. This time one tired eye cracked open.

"What is it Cloud?" He said his voice thick with sleep.

"Um..." He didn't really know what to say.

"Did something happen?" Reno sat up a bit, resting his weight on his elbows.

Obviously Cloud hadn't thought this through all the way. Wake Reno up kiss him then what? That could wait for later he guessed after all he woke Reno up for a reason so he may as well get it over with. So without answering any of Renos groggy questions he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the Turks for the second time that night. Reno seemed surprised at first but didn't hesitate to return the kiss. Cloud noted that his shoulders were held in place by Reno, probably so that he wouldn't be able to push him away again. Alarms were going off in the back of his head. His mind was with him this time. Warning him that he shouldn't be doing this, that it was wrong. 'What about Tifa?' It asked 'What would your mother think?' Cloud chose to ignore it and pushed on.

He wrapped his arms around the Turks neck and allowed him access to his mouth, relenting to the tongue that was brushing softly against his lips. He was about as eager to explore Renos mouth as much as the Turk was demonstrating. Cloud who didn't have much experience with this sort of thing copied the movements that the Turk made. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made a note that this wasn't so bad, at least Reno knew what he was doing. What surprised Cloud wasn't when Reno pushed him backwards, or even when he made a valiant effort in removing Clouds shirt. What surprised him was when he suddenly pulled away.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" Cloud asked concerned that he may have offended his bed mate.

"No. I-I just... What exactly brought this about?"

"Oh..." He didn't really want to voice his thought about experimenting. "I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about earlier."

"So you're not going to yell at me if I keep kissing you?" Reno asked cautiously.

Cloud shook his head in a negative, knowing that the Turk would be able to make the movement out in the dim light. He sat up a bit and brought their mouths together in another heated kiss. He resolved that he didn't want to let Reno take complete control. Even though he didn't exactly know what he was doing he still did it. He let his hands roam the others body, making small circles up the Turks back while continuing to kiss him. He played with the hem of his shirt contemplating removing the article for the Turk. He enjoyed the feeling of the others silky skin caressing it intimately.

He had no clue what part of his brain had thought that this would be a good idea, but he didn't want to stop it, he wanted to push on. But where was he pushing to? He pulled up all the courage he could muster to pull the Turks night shirt off. Their mouths were disconnected as the article passed over the Turks head but as soon as it was gone they were back at it. Cloud gasped as Renos hands moved from his shoulder blades to his ass. He wasn't sure why his mind had stopped arguing perhaps it had given up. He could remember hearing somewhere sometime someone telling him the urges of the flesh were greater then any other force on earth. He remembered an old story of wars fought in distant times because of mans pursuit of the fairer sex. This wasn't like that though; Cloud hadn't even been in the presence of a female in probably two months.

It no longer seemed strange that Reno was touching him this way, nor that he could feel his erection pressing against his own. As much as Cloud tried to convince himself that he was in control he wasn't quite sure if he was or not. After all normally he'd never do something like this, he would never let anyone else remove his belt or pull his pants down like that. He didn't remember this part being in his original plan. He was fighting it, and yet at the same time not. That problem the very same problem his mind was wandering and over-analyzing instead of keeping up with what was going on. Otherwise he wouldn't have been surprised when he noticed that Reno had removed his pants as well, and that the two of them were stark naked. This was definitely not in the parameters of the experiment.

"R-Reno?"

"Mmmm" Reno responded from the crook of Clouds neck.

"I'm not sure about this."

Reno pulled back and ran one finger along Clouds cheek. "What do you mean?"

"I-I've never done this before." Cloud felt his face grow warm and he knew that he was blushing.

"Awww it's nothing to worry about. Everyone's got to be there sometime." Reno threw his arm around Clouds shoulder in what Cloud thought was supposed to be a friendly gesture but seeing as neither of them was clothed it seemed kind of strange. "If you want to stop I'll be fine with that."

Cloud looked down in an attempt to think but upon noticing both of their obvious arousal his line of thought was lost completely. He shook his head. "No... I don't think you'd be fine with it."

"Well I'd have to be if you don't want to."

"No, I can't do that. Not after I-" Guilt started to swell in Cloud, he had woken Reno up for this, well not this but he had woken him up.

"Don't worry I understand." Reno said as he started to get up from the bed." Moving a little awkwardly from his bum leg.

What happened next Cloud couldn't rationally explain, after all he had never ever done or thought anything like it before. "Wait! No! Please Reno I-I want you to... fuck me."

Reno smiled and climbed back onto the bed. "Well if you put it that way."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next morning was dark, same as every other morning. The bed was empty which lead Cloud to believe that he was probably the last person to wake that day. He sat up, wincing in discomfort at the pain in his rear. This didn't looking like it was going to be a very good day. He shrugged knowing that it was to late now to do anything about it and just adjusted his uniform top, wished that in the least they had a window, but knew that they were too far underground for one. He ran his hands through his hair attempting to rid himself of his permanent case of bed head.

He felt guilty about the night before and really didn't want to face Zack. Just the thought of what Zack would think of him if he knew. He couldn't dwell on that right now, not with all of them living so closely together. Everything had to stay as normal as possible.

Cloud looked about the dark room, still only lit by the little night light. He missed seeing the sunlight in the morning. Nothing he could do about it, while they were still locked in the basement. He didn't even think that Wutei would do anything about them anyway. It had been so long already.

The sound of someone moving about in the other room reminded Cloud that he still wasn't alone in this prison and that someone out there was most likely cooking some breakfast for them all. So he gathered up all his bravery and exited the bedroom. He could see both Turks sitting on a sofa and the smell of cooked bacon entered his senses. That meant Zack was cooking. He gingerly left the safety of the hallway and greeted everyone.

"Good morning."

"Morning sleepy." Zack said and he stirred up some scrambled eggs. "You sure slept in today."

"I guess." Cloud responded non-commitally.

"Not much else to do around here." Rude mentioned.

Cloud sat on the second sofa feeling boredom start to seep in already. He watched Zack putter around in the kitchen and half listened to the conversation that Rude and Reno were having. Despite the events of the night before, nothing had changed, nothing was different, and they were all still locked up. It was monotonous day in and day out. Cloud had thought that things might change that things might stir up a bit, even though moments before he was wishing that nothing would change he suddenly realised that maybe last night, maybe he had done that on purpose. Perhaps subconsciously he had wanted to stir up trouble. Create some drama and mix things up a bit so that maybe just maybe tomorrow wouldn't be the same as yesterday.

He sighed as he stretched out along the couch. Maybe that was what he was wanting or maybe he was just being paranoid. He could even have gone insane by now and just not realised it, which could be what that banging was. That metallic ring that seemed so distant but so near at the same time. No one else seemed to be reacting to it. He must be the only one hearing it.

He was wrong. "Do you hear that?" Reno asked suddenly.

Rude was watching the door closely now.

"Hmm?" Zack responded. "Hear what? I don't hear anything but the-" He paused mid sentence. It was louder now.

"What is that?" Cloud wondered out loud.

It was definitely a metallic ring, metal hitting metal reverberating down the hallway, getting closer every second. There were other noises as well, voices yelling, gun shots. Something was going on out there and they had no way of finding out what it was.

Zack abandoned his station in the kitchen and moved closer to the doorway. Both Turks had moved to their feet and looked ready for a fight. Cloud remained on the couch unsure of the sudden danger outside of their door. A monstrous voice raised above the rest of the commotion, a roar, a battle cry, definitely human. It sounded angry, like someone ready to kill. Naturally Cloud was afraid; he had never heard something like that before. A cry of bloodlust of someone who had spent their lives slaughtering others. Then the noise faded away. Not simply that they had passed and moved on but more as if they had stopped paused in the trek down the Shinra hallway. There was a bang on their door, that same metallic clang they had heard before this time louder and closer then ever before. Another bang and a noticeable dint. The Turks and the Soldier readied themselves for a fight. Cloud, he wished that he was doing the same but instead he seemed to be frozen to the spot unsure of what it was he should be doing. He clutched the seat cushions and felt exactly like a frightened child torn from their mother, he barely was anything more anyway.

The pounding continued and the door took more and more noticeable damage. Whoever was out there was intent on breaking the door down and they seemed to be doing a fine job of it.

"Cloud, get close to me." Zack said motioning for Cloud.

He couldn't move he felt like he had been glued to the spot. Whatever was on that other side of that door must be huge.

The pounding paused only to be replaced by another deafening roar. The door flew into the room and landed with a crash. Dust filled the air and debris flew. Cloud could make out a handful of figures in the broken doorway. His heart stopped for a moment as soon as he recognized the Wutanese insignia on their chest. The figure front and center in the doorway was a massive being tall with bright orange hair, and an equally large metal arm. Cloud could see it glint in the light back in the hall from the shoulder down completed with a metal fist. That explained the clanging echo from before. It was obvious that the giant with his arm was the ram that had knocked the door in.

No one moved, no one dared to speak. Cloud saw the Turks were both still tense and ready for a fight. A smaller figure moved around the giant to the front of the other soldiers and looked around the room and over its occupants. He said something in the Wutanese dialect and turned leaving them all. The giant nodded his understanding and moved forward toward Zack, who visibly moved back.

"This isn't it either." A female voice said with an accent.

Cloud tore his eyes away from the giant to the person who had spoken. A slight Wutanese woman entered the room looking at the Turks. She vocalised the observation. "Looks like we found us some Turks though."

"Damn right you have Wutei bitch." Reno snapped at her.

"Now now watch your language Turk." She warned. "Don't forget I've got Bardo on my side."

The giant snorted as if letting everyone know that he was the one she was talking about.

"I suggest that you behave yourselves and come with us without a fuss you may just wake up tomorrow with out a head ache." She continued.

"You may have the big guy but we've got two Turks and a SOLDIER on our side." Reno challenged.

"Shut up you idiot." Zack hissed under his breath.

"The SOLDIER's right, you are without any weaponry." Several Wutei soldiers came into the room as if on cue and cocked and aimed their guns. "You will be accompanying us; hopefully you'll be valuable enough to Shinra to perhaps strike a bargain."

Zack stood down, Cloud felt lost and hope less still sitting on the couch. First last night now this. Life was really going down the shitter, boring class looked really good right now. How could this get any worse.

"Hey who's the kid?" One of the Wutei soldiers asked not lowering his gun in the slightest.

"You don't need to worry about him." Zack said.

"He's nothing." The woman said looking Cloud over. "He's nothing but a common Shinra grunt. Dispose of him please."

"No!" Cloud found his voice, just in time to protest his death.

The soldiers stiffened a bit, Cloud could hear their fingers tighten on their triggers. He didn't want to die here now like this. Though admittedly it would be better then starving to death lost in the forest, or crashing and burning up to a crisp in the helicopter, or even of just plain old boredom. He was meant to do more with his life though surely he was meant for more then just this. To be shot down in his own turf. Where the hell were all of the SOLDIERs anyway? Shouldn't Shinra be fighting back?

Another Wutei soldier entered the room in a rush stumbling a bit trying to stop in time before he crashed into Bardo the giant. He said some words quickly in the Wutei dialect. The woman nodded and gave some orders before turning on her heal and exiting the room.

Bardo the giant moved forward grabbed Zack and forced him to follow along. The Turks and Cloud were held at gun point and forced to march out of the room. Cloud was glad that he hadn't been shot and left to die, he wasn't much happier about having to go along though. He was grateful to see something other then that basement room. The cold metal halls and poor lighting a welcome sight to his tired eyes. Though all of it was in worse shape then they had been last time they made this trek down. Sharp cuts into the metal walls revealed that the walls were much thicker then Cloud had imagined. Many areas of the walls showed a clear patina from fire. Dark areas were common from where the lights had been shot out. They stepped over bodies all of them Shinra personell. Scientists and soldiers scattered the floor their blood staining everything. In all of the chaos he only saw one fallen Wutei soldier. They left him behind, Cloud saw no sign of anyone attempting to bring the body back with them.

They didn't go back up to the surface; they were lead down hallways and stairways unrecognized to Cloud and to a massive hole in the wall. It looked like an explosion had torn everything apart. They went through the hole and into a metal tunnel. It looked like it had been drilled through, weeks possibly months of work to get the perfectly round tunnel into the Shinra basement. Ahead of Cloud and the Turks, the giant walked, Cloud could hear Zacks curses. It was in vain though; even though he was a first class SOLDIER he stood no chance against the giant.

The air was thick and smelled foul. Cloud wondered how far down they were. They were heading further down a slight incline and it curved around gently. Were they walking through the foundations of the Shinra building like rats? What kind of technology allowed them to do this? How was it that no one knew that they were doing this? Surely it must have taken a lot of time and planning to do this. What were they accomplishing? Their goal couldn't have been to kidnap them, there hadn't been enough time.

There was nothing Cloud nor anyone else could do though. With the threat of these Wutei spies so near at hand, they had no choice but to go along for the ride. He could see the Turks seething at their inability to fight back. Their footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel, as well as the voices of the Wutei soldiers holding them at gun point. Cloud had spotted the Materia equipped in each weapon, as was familiar with the danger that the orbs held. He had been warned in class of the Wutanese craftiness, their abilities with Materia were unmatched. Shinras goal was to strip them of the orbs and create a monopoly of the gems. So far they hadn't had any luck. They were extremely versatile fighters, who were able to very quickly build a defensive line on a battlefield. Not to mention their camps which seemed to pop up out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly leaving no trace of their existence. That made tracking their whereabouts extremely difficult. Whenever they were threatened they would simply seem to vanish and reappear in a safer more defendable position. Cloud was very uncomfortable to be led by these clansmen.  
He was hoping that they air would improve by the time the reached they end of the bored out tunnel. He was disappointed, they were deposited somewhere in the slums. Cloud had never been down here, but he had heard plenty of stories about it from his classmates. He had never imagined it would be this bad though. It was dark, that much he knew, since they had no access to natural light. The air was stale, the buildings derelict, and the odd person he could see here and there all looked sickly and unnaturally pale. It was the people that bothered him the most. This particular area didn't have too many occupants and all of them seemed to ignore all of them piling out of this hole, only some what disguised by the rubbish that was piled around it. A few looked at them in confusion but quickly looked away. Obviously not too many Turks or SOLDIERs made it to this part of the slums. Some the children out right stared at Zack, who had finally stopped protesting.

No one spoke, they were just pushed on at a hurried pace. Cloud stumbled his way across the uneven ground trying his best to not trip on the littered floor. They paused only once, not for long but it did give Cloud a chance to get a better look at his surroundings. The only lighting was artificial, old yellow lights hung everywhere possible. On the sides of buildings, on pillars, on haphazard posts, wires strung between them all. The roads were all dirt though they did show signs that once they probably had been paved. He jumped when he saw something move in the corner of his eye.

One of the Wutei soldier saw his reaction and chuckled to himself a bit, before leaning closer to Cloud and surprisingly tried to comfort the blonde. "Don't worry too much about those things, lots of creatures roam around freely down here. The locals keep them in control." He said with a thick accent.

Cloud had never wished for his crappy little practise sword more in his life.

It wasn't long before a rattling could be heard in the distance. A wooden cart pulled by two of the saddest looking chocobo's Cloud had ever seen came around the corner rocking violently over every bump and dip in the make shift road. He felt bad for the poor birds, they looked old and sick. Probably old racing birds discarded for newer younger birds. He was pushed forward, someone behind him urging him forward and into the cart. They all piled into the Cart, all but for Bardo the giant; he walked along behind having no problems keeping pace.

"What sector are we in?" Rude asked suddenly. A question out of the blue.

He didn't get a response. The female Wutei soldier had moved up to the front of the cart and was talking the old man. A scraggily looking drifter who probably had a rough life, at least that's what he looked like from his outer appearance. Though there was hardly any doubt if he had spent his life down in the slums. Cloud wondered what she was all about; she seemed to hold some sort of authority over the others. It didn't look like she was armed, though he knew better, even their women were supposed to be vicious on the battlefield. Who was she?

Cloud sat back and tried his best to look like he wasn't just the last minute straggler who had been sentenced to death. This was not the way he wanted to die; he needed to become a hero first. It wasn't a very comfortable ride; thankfully it wasn't a very long one. From what he could see outside the covered cart was that they were still obviously in the slums. There were a few more people around though, instead of the few scattered occupants of the previous sector. He knew he was on very thin ice with these people; after all he was worthless to Shinra and therefore worthless to the Wutei. He was lucky to still be alive.

When they finally arrived at their destination, a run down shack in yet another sector. The female instructed them out of the cart and led them at gunpoint into the shack. They were chained up to a thick metal pipe that came up out of the floor of the shack. They were in the back room of the tiny two room apartment.

"They can't do this to us." Zack muttered under his breath.

"Yeah at least Shinra gave us our own room." Reno agreed.

"They can't keep us here like this forever; we're too much of a threat to keep us close for long." Rude said, almost like he was thinking out loud. "They'll try to strike a bargain for us. Whatever they went there for they didn't find."

Cloud sat on the rough wooden floor, his arms held in an awkward angle thanks to the chains that had been looped around his wrists. "Do people actually live like this?" He wondered out loud. Surely people couldn't be expected to live in such quarters. Everything he saw in the slums was terrible; he had expected something closer to home, maybe just darker. Little houses full of happy families, with yards with white picket fences...

"Well we are kinda being held against our will here Cloud." Zack pointed out.

"No I mean everyone. All those people out there... There's garbage everywhere, there's no sunlight, how do these people live?"

"Have you never been down here before?" Reno asked, looking over his shoulder where he was forced into the same treatment as the rest of them.

"No, I've just heard about it." He felt silly now, no not silly stupid.

The rickety door was pulled open before anyone could say anything else and a couple soldiers walked into the room, followed by the giant and the woman. A few fast paced words were exchanged, none of which Cloud could follow. The woman seemed to be angry and no one seemed to want to cross her path, least they bring Bardos fury down upon them. She huffed her way out of the room the giant following suit and left two of the soldiers behind, probably to watch over their prisoners.

"Geeze, what's her problem?" Reno muttered

One of the soldiers looked at the Turk from his spot near the door. "Don't mind Nikola, she's always like that. Part of being a Generals daughter." He said with a slight accent.

Zacks head snapped up, like he had been struck with a sudden thought. "How much are you allowed to tell us?"

"What the hell are you doing Zack?" Reno countered, obviously thinking that the SOLDIER had cracked.

"What were you doing trying to break into Shinra headquarters with so few people? Why push for the basement? Why bother with us?" Zack questioned.

The soldier shook his head in a negative. Obviously these were questions he could not answer. Cloud thought they were good questions though, and now started to wonder about them. How exactly had they got into this situation?

"You're all spies." Cloud pointed out. He had thought of them as spies all along but he had never vocalised the possibility.

The soldier nodded his head in an affirmative.

"That would explain why you hadn't been caught before. You don't have much time left. Shinra isn't going to let what you did pass lightly. They'll track you down before you know it and all of you will have to pay the price." Zack spat out, anger laced in his words.

"They won't find us here." The same soldier spoke again, Cloud wondered if his companion knew English as well as his friend. "We're hiding in plain sight. People in the slums hate Shinra as much as the rest of us."

"Nonsense, Shinra is the one providing them with shelter, food, electricity. Shinra give these people jobs. Without Shinra they wouldn't have anything." Zack argued back.

"Shinra took everything away from them. Before Midgar existed each sector was a town, they had health, families, lives. Now they're forced to do everything they can to survive. They are surviving not living." The soldier said one last time before he turned away, ending the conversation.

The silence hung thick in the air. Cloud couldn't help but agree with the Wutanese man. If everything he said had been true. If Midgar really had been built overtop of these people's homes. They were suffering it didn't take much to see that. These people were far different from the ones living atop the plates. Those people had everything compared to the slums. Had Shinra really stolen their lives?

He must have drifted off, overcome by sleep because he couldn't remember anything between that conversation, the heavy silence, and the sudden presence of Bardo in the room. It seemed like Clouds luck had run out. Bardo made a beeline straight for him, snapped the chains holding him in place like threads and carried Cloud out of the room, screaming in terror the whole way. Before the door closed Cloud had a look at his fellow prisoners. Zack and Reno both looked panicked at Clouds abduction.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

He was passed off to another soldier, and taken up a rusty metal ladder. Bardo could not follow his weight would have torn the item off of the wall. It looked to be the only way up to the further reaches of the building. He was tossed into another room, part of the same shack only a few floors further up. He was surprised to see computers sitting along one wall two or three fairly new units, all flashing symbols of the Wutei language. A television set sat in one corner, getting poor reception despite it's location in the upper floors of the shack. A desk that looked to be constructed of used plywood sat at the far end of the room. Nikola sat behind it. She had glasses sitting delicately on her nose and was sorting through a few papers. He watched her pick up a worn PHS and issued a few commands into the radio set.

Once she had completed the few tasks before her she turned her attention to Cloud, and smiled. He was surprised to find that the smile was gentle, and almost welcoming. He looked back to the PHS and to the rest of the technology in the room. Compared to the rest of it the PHS stood out... it was so old.

"We find that the analog technology works far better down here compared to the new digital ones." She explained, as if reading Clouds mind.

"W-why? Why are you keeping us here?" He asked.

Her smile never vanished. "Because all of you might be able to help us accomplish our goals. I hope that you'll be sympathetic to our cause."

Cloud shook his head. No these were spies of the Wutei government. They wanted to overthrow Shinra and everything they had done for the world. They wanted the power of the mako reactors to themselves; throw the world back into the dark ages. The reactors meant the future of the world; they provided jobs and convenient power for everyone.

"You must at least hear me out. After all of the people in the slums have agreed to help us." She said not taking her eyes off of Cloud.

He shook his head again. He didn't want to hear it, the lies they must have told these people to get them to work against the ones providing them with their means of survival. He looked to the floor, refusing to look up at the Wutei woman.

He heard her sigh. "Tell me about your friends then. What were you doing there with them?"

He paused shocked, if she didn't know... they hadn't been their goal. "We were being protected."

"I would hardly call that protection. Looked to me like they were trying to keep you all out of their way. What's your name?"

"Cloud Strife Ma'am."

He heard her chair move, its legs scratching against the worn floorboards. Her footsteps coming closer. Her feet came into his view. "Cloud Strife... I am Nikola I would like to be your friend."

"No you wouldn't." She was lying, they always lied.

"Of course I do." She knelt down and forced him to look at her. "Why would you say something like that?"

What was she trying to do? He had no power; he had no influence in Shinra. Befriending him would accomplish nothing. "No one wants to be my friend." It was true. Even back home he was distant from everyone else, even now all the time he had spent with the Turks and the SOLDIER... they weren't really his friends, he just happened to have been lumped together with them in that room, on that mission.

"Now, now... why wouldn't anyone want to be friends with such a handsome young man? What about the others downstairs?"

"I don't mean anything to them. It was by chance I was in that room. Shinra won't give you anything to get me back... I'm worthless to you." He didn't know why he was telling her all of this. "I don't want to die."

"Aww, you won't die. Please just tell me who those men downstairs are. We know they are from the Turks and the one is a SOLDIER." She continued. So this is what she wanted with him.

"Reno and Rude... they're just Turks, they're all the same. Zack... Major General Fair I guess would be his proper title." Cloud answered.

"Major General hey? Why would they have someone like that locked up in the basement?" She asked leaning back on her heals, feigning deep thought when she knew Cloud would answer her.

"For his protection... our protection." Hadn't they already talked about this?

"Protection from what?"

"You."

"Well obviously didn't work." She stood back up, and Cloud let his gaze follow her. "Why did you need protection? If you hadn't of been there this would have never happened to you."

Cloud felt tears well up in his eyes, truth be told he didn't know why they were there; he didn't know what they needed protection from. Nothing made sense anymore. "I don't know, I don't understand any of it. I wish I was in class again. I wish I was being picked on by bullies again. I don't want to be here any more."

"We can send you home; you won't have to worry about Shinra anymore. We'll send you back to where your family is. All you have to do is cooperate with us." Her voice sounded warm, but it held the promise of danger. She would not fulfill her promise.

"No! I can't... I can't go back until I'm a hero."

"Well isn't that sweet." She grabbed onto his chin lifting it up violently, making him look at her. Her nails digging into his skin painfully. "You want to be just like him, just like that murderer don't you? Just another Shinra grunt suffering from a case of hero-worship. None of you know what a real hero is! That man, that General of yours is nothing but a murderer!"

Cloud was shocked at her words, the sudden vicisouness in her voice. She hated the General; he didn't even have to wonder about it. "He will lead Shinra to victory."

She spun around turning her back to Cloud, and spat out orders to a nearby Wutei soldier. He nodded before grabbing Cloud by an elbow and dragging him out of the room and back down to the lowest floor chained with the others once again. As the chains bit into his wrists he wondered if he had made a mistake, following the General with blind faith. Sephiroth was a terrifying man; he could understand why she would call him a murderer. He brought down so many of the Wutei people. He had made a promise though, at the top of that water tower under those stars. He promised Tifa he would become a hero and that one day he'd come back and save her. He couldn't turn his back on that now. What would that make him? Hardly worth anything, useless in the eyes of everyone had who looked at him. If only he hadn't been this way, why couldn't he have been born a different child? Why was he doomed to be Cloud Strife?

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Hey Spike you okay?"

Cloud continued to ignore Zack. One by one they had all been interrogated, Reno hadn't been happy with Cloud once he found out that Cloud had given them all their names. Ever since he had come back Cloud had felt empty, like there was no real reason for him to be here. If someone else had been chosen to go to bone village instead of him, they would be here in his place. He would probably still be on track in class.

"Stop ignoring me Cloud."

He still didn't answer. It could have been anyone in his place. He was Cloud Strife though the unluckiest kid on the planet apparently. What did anyone want with huge materia anyway? Useless rock was all it really was.

"Damn it Cloud. Talk to me."

"Would you just say something to get him to shut the hell up." Reno added. After all Zack had probably been trying to get Clouds attention for close to half an hour now.

"I don't want to talk to anyone." Was all Cloud said.

He had been given a bit more slack on his chains this time, it gave him just enough room to slump onto the floor, and for that he was grateful. It allowed him to curl up a bit, keep himself a little warm and separated from the others just a bit. If he was back home in Nibelhiem right now he'd run to his hiding spot by the Shinra mansion. It was just a little clearing behind some old rose bushes. No one disturbed him there though, not like here. Obviously he wasn't a danger to them; everyone else had been put back the same way they had originally been strung up. Only Cloud was given any sort of slack on his restraints, though it did little to cheer him. Honestly all of this was getting ridiculous, how could all of them been handed this situation after situation without any of being set up. He missed Kalm.

"I hear someone coming." Rude announced quietly.

Naturally he was right, footsteps approached the door and it swung open into the room. Nikola entered alone, she smiled at Cloud pure venom, and she had a plan. Cloud was released from his restraints yet again and Nikola was met with no opposition from any of them. Everyone probably assumed that they were going to press him with more questions, to see what else the cadet might spill. Cloud was surprised when he was lead outside and was met with a casually dressed Wutei spy. A package was thrust into his arms.

He looked at it, plain brown packaging but whatever was inside felt soft and pliable. "Put that on." Nikola demanded of him. He opened it up and saw clothing, regular run of the mill clothing. "We can't have you going in wearing a Shinra uniform."

"Going where?" Cloud asked as he pulled the material out.

"You'll be going into Wallmarket." She looked at him sharply, a warning. "Don't think that you'll be able to pull anything. You will be accompanied and if you try anything don't think that we won't be afraid to hurt your little friends."

Cloud swallowed a quick retort and nodded his understanding. If he screwed up, the others would pay for it he had to be careful and follow orders. He climbed into the back of the wooden cart again, while the other Wutei spy sat up front with the driver, he guessed that was where he was supposed to change.

So he was going to Wallmarket. He had heard a lot about that place, it was in sector six. A lot of cadets went down there during their free time; they always came back with stories all sorts of stories. This was probably going to be an eventful trip, he thought as the cart took off going over the same bumps as before. Definitely interesting.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: Hurray I finally got a new chapter out! Who's happy? I landed me a full time job and it's really sucking up my free time... I did make it my new years resolution to write more this year. I have been or was. I learned that I could take a notebook with me on the bus and do some writing on my way to work, we had a real bad cold snap half way through january and the cold killed my pen x.x. It was to cold for it work so I just took my psp and read other peoples fanfiction instead! Anyway if you enjoyed this chapter let me know as allways... even if you hated it. Also don't forget to go read the story I'm writing with me beta Tieo would love to know what you all think of her chapter!

Links for everything: Boring Days and full version of this chapter can be found in my bio.


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